


Shadow Preachers

by Kylo_Skywalker



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Angst, Armitage Hux Needs A Hug, F/M, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Force Bond (Star Wars), Force Dyad (Star Wars), Force Sensitivity, Force-Sensitive Finn (Star Wars), Gap Filler, Jedi Finn (Star Wars), Kylo Ren Has Issues, Kylo Ren in Love, Manipulative Sheev Palpatine, Movie: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Movie: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Movie: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Mutual Pining, Original Character-centric, Protective Kylo Ren, Rewrite, Rey Needs A Hug, Rey is Not a Palpatine, Romantic Fluff, Sibling Bonding, Slow Burn, Suggestive Themes, The Force Ships It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:00:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 33
Words: 238,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23815765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kylo_Skywalker/pseuds/Kylo_Skywalker
Summary: Nova Palpatine grew up on Jakku with her younger sister Rey until she was grabbed while scavenging for food and was traded off as a slave for portions until she ended up on an terrestrial forested planet. Under the care of a man named Bylsma, a shuttle crashes and brings her a new change of life. When the First Order takes her, Snoke graciously accepts her to learn of the ways of the dark side alongside Commander Kylo Ren.
Relationships: Ben Solo | Kylo Ren/Original Female Character(s), Finn/Rey (Star Wars), Kylo Ren & Original Female Character(s), Kylo Ren/Original Female Character(s), Original Female Character(s) & Rey (Star Wars), Poe Dameron & Finn, Poe Dameron & Finn & Rey
Comments: 97
Kudos: 74





	1. The Awakening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke Skywalker has vanished. In his absence, the sinister First Order has risen from the ashes of the Empire and will not rest until Skywalker, the last Jedi, has been destroyed.
> 
> With the support of the Republic, General Leia Organa leads a brave Resistance. She is desperate to find her brother Luke and gain his help in restoring peace and justice to the galaxy.
> 
> Leia has sent her most daring pilot on a secret mission to Jakku, where an old ally has discovered a clue to Luke’s whereabouts . . .

The fight in the Tuanul Village of Jakku continued as a diehard group of its inhabitants, perhaps knowing all too well what the representatives of the First Order had in mind for them if they surrendered, refused to give up their weapons. While the battle was a mismatch, it was not a slaughter, and those villagers who continued to resist gave as good as they got. 

Shot straight on, a trooper went down in a mass of shattered armor, shredded flesh, and blood. One of his companions immediately rushed to his side and knelt to render assistance. A torn, bloody glove lifted toward the would be rescuer, shockingly bare fingers protruding from the torn protective covering. Faces behind helmets stared at one another. With a shock, the Trooper who had arrived to aid his fallen comrade recognized the one whose life was now bleeding out inside his armor. They had trained together. Shared meals, stories, experiences together. Now they were sharing death together. 

Combat was not at all like the would be rescuer had envisioned. 

A brief, final flailing by the downed Trooper splattered the newcomer’s face mask with blood. Then the hand and arm fell, and movement ceased. There was no assistance to be rendered here. 

Straightening, the second Trooper surveyed the hell in which he found himself. His weapon hung at his side, unfired. He stumbled off, away from his dead comrade and that, exposed, pale, pleading hand. 

As madness ebbed and surged around him, he wandered through the village, feeling himself more a participant and all too common red stains on the ground contradicted his denial. This wasn;t like his training at all, he himself numbly. Unlike in simulations, reality bled. 

Smoke and dust rose from the devastated buildings around him. His helmet’s aural receptors picked up sounds of distant explosions as well as those close at hand. Crackling flames did not rise from burning sand; they rose from homes, small workshops, storage buildings. 

He turned the still standing corner of a building, movement caused him to raise his weapon reflexively. Frightened and unarmed, the woman he found himself confronting inhaled sharply and froze. The expression on her face was the one the Trooper would never forget: the one of someone still alive who realizes she’s already dead. For an instant they remained like that, predator and prey, both cognizant of their respective status. When he finally lowered the blaster’s muzzle, she clearly couldn’t believe it, still staring at him for a bit longer. 

What could only be described as a thunderous hiss caused them to turn away from each other. When the Trooper turned in the direction of the sound, his movement broke the woman’s terrified paralysis. She whirled and fled. 

The shuttle that was descending was far more imposing than those with which the Trooper was familiar, boasting exceptionally high folding wings and a raptorish silhouette. When the bay door opened, it was to allow a single figure to exit with two Troopers following after. Tall, dark, cloaked, with its face hidden behind a metal mask, it ignored the still swirling chaos of the battle to head unerringly in the direction of Lor San Tekka. 

Struck by the new arrival’s apparent indifference to the enveloping fray, the Trooper was startled when a sharp nudge from behind him momentarily threw him off balance. A glance found him locking gazes with a superior. The noncom’s voice was curt. 

“Back to your team. This isn’t over yet.” 

The subject of his ire nodded in recognition and hurried off, wondering what the arrival of that singular figure might portend but not daring to inquire. For an ordinary Trooper like him, ignorance was simply an abstract value. It was in the manual. 

The tall, hooded figure whose appearance had so transfixed the shell shock Trooper did not waver in his course or objective, ignoring startled Stormstroopers and armed villagers alike. Seeing him approach, Tekka halted and waited, the village elder recognizing him and knowing there was no point in running. Resignation slid over him like a cloud. 

The passenger from the shuttle stared at Tekka, examining him from head to foot much as one would a relic in a museum. Tekka gazed back evenly. The black mask, with its slitted forehead and thick, snoutlike breathing apparatus, covered the face of the man he knew as Kylo Ren. Once, he had known the face behind the mask. Now, to San Tekka, only the mask was left. Metal instead of man. 

Ren spoke first, without hesitation, as if he had anticipated this meeting for some time. “The great soldier of fortune. Look how old you’ve become.” Though emanating from a human throat, the voice that was distorted by the mask has the sick flavor of the disembodied. 

Tekka has expected no less. “Something far worse has happened to you.”

Words had no effect on the mask or, as far as Tekka could tell, what lay behind it. There was no reaction, no outrage. Only impatience. 

“You know what I’ve come for.” 

“I know where you come _from_.” For all the concern he displayed, Lor San Tekka might as well have been sitting atop a mountain ridge, meditating on the sunset over the Sko’rraq Mountains. “From a time before you called yourself Kylo Ren.” 

From behind the mask, a growl: feral but still human. “The map to Skywalker. We know you found it. And now you’re going to give it to the First Order.” 

“You don’t belong with them.” Tekka spoke camly, in matter of fact tones, and without any fear. Speaking truth to the lie that stood before him, striving to bring light to darkness. The hope was a faint one, but he had to try. “The First Order rose from the dark side. You did not.” 

Impatience on the part of the visitor gave away to exasperation as he drew closer to the elder. “I’ll _show_ you the dark side.” He informs him in a warning tone.

“You may try,” Tekka responded with quiet defiance, “but you cannot deny the truth that is your family.” 

Kylo Ren stilled. “You’re so right.”

Rage flared behind the mask as reason gave way to fury. A lightsaber appeared in his right hand, flaring to life, a barely stable crimson shaft notable for two smaller projections at the hilt. A killer’s weapon, an executioner’s fetish of choice. He raises it high, adding his left hand to the hilt and slashes it down, ripping across and through the figure of Lor San Tekka. 

Perceiving a threat, Kylo Ren reacted quickly. He whips around, hand raising sharply, palm facing toward the unknown assailant. The gesture was merely the physical manifestation of something infinitely more powerful and entirely unseen. It intercepted the discharge from the pilot’s weapon, freezing it in midair as effectively as any solid barrier. From behind the mask, eyes of preternatural intensity racked the attack to its source. 

A pair of Stormtroopers took hold of the paralyzed pilot, hitting him directly in the gut before dragging him forward until he stood helpless before the impassive Ren. The one Trooper then kicks behind his knee, sending him plopping down in the sand as Kylo deactivates his lightsaber, returning it to his belt. He then kneels before the man, gaze settling on the details of the pilot’s clothing. A Resistance pilot. 

“So, who talks first?” The pilot asked, making his voice light. “You talk first? I talk first?” 

“The old man _gave_ it to you.” Kylo sensed, tilting his head. 

The pilot then raises his hand to his own face, gesturing towards Kylo’s mask. “It’s just very hard to understand you with all the—”

“Search him.” Kylo extends himself up. 

“—apparatus.” The pilot gets in his last word.

Troopers made him stand, the one commencing a detailed and none too gentle pat down. Pulling a small device from his service belt, the other Trooper slowly passed it the length of the prisoner’s body, beginning at the pilot’s head and ending at his feet. The examination did not take long. 

“Nothing, sir,” declared the first Stormtrooper, standing at attention. 

Poe winked up at the Trooper who had used his hands. “Good job.” 

Kylo Ren did not let his disappointment show. At such times momentary delays were not unexpected. All would be satisfactorily resolved, in good time. 

“Put him on board.” 

The two Troopers dragged the man away, Ren watching for a moment as he contemplated possibilities. He allowed his thoughts to be briefly diverted, regretting the time that had been wasting in healing with necessary inconsequentialities. 

Awaiting his pleasure, the senior officer in overall charge of the special squadrons drew herself up at his approach, her black cape of rank hanging loose around her. It stood in startling contrast to her armor, which even in the poor light shone like polished silver. Captain Phasma. 

“Sir, the villagers?” She murmured. 

Kylo Ren surveyed his blazing surroundings. He had already spent too much time here, to only partial satisfaction. He disliked such delays. “Kill them all. Then search the village. Every building, every possible storage facility and place of concealment. You know what to look for.” 

A single nod and she turned. A line of Troopers stood before the assembled surviving villagers. “On my command!” Weapons were raised. 

The reactions of the villagers were typical. Some stepped forward, insolent to the last. Others fell to their knees. There was whimpering and crying and shouts of defiance. None of it lasted very long. 

“ _Fire!_ ” 

It wasn’t a massacre. In the lexicon of the First Order it was nothing more than a prescribed chastisement. Appropriate retribution for harboring a fugitive of note. It was the nature of the tutorial that was important, not the numbers involved. It took less than a minute. 

When it was over, and the only sounds were methodical chatter among the Troopers mixed with a variety of unholy crackling, they dispersed to carry out a final survey and scan of the debris. The Trooper with a bloody face mask stood still, not having fired at all and gaped at the tall, dark clad figure striding purposefully toward the singular shuttle that had set down in the midst of battle. 

In response, the figure of Kylo Ren turned and looked sideways, directly at the soldier. The Trooper saw only light reflecting off a mask, and his own fear. _He knows. He must know._

The glance lasted a second, Kylo resumed his pace, deep in thought as he strode toward the shuttle. In the course of returning to his ship the bolt that the pilot had shot at him flew free, smashing into a nearby structure and scaring the wits out of an idling Stormtrooper unfortunate enough to be standing nearby. 

The purification of the village extended to its outskirts, where a clutch of Troopers had just finished searching the damaged X-wing that had been abandoned there. Having done all they could with the tools and equipment at hand, they prepared to return to their units. Specialized gear could have reduced the Resistance fighter to its component parts, but that was not how they had been ordered to proceed. A couple of bursts was all it took to reduce both the ship and the outcropping to rubble. 

Above in the atmosphere, hovering the desert planet Jakku, the Star Destroyer Finalizer was massive and new. It had been forged and assembled in the distant orbital factories of the First Order, constructed in secret and uninfected by the virus that was the New Republic. Its devoted and fanatical builders had designed it to be more powerful, more technologically advanced, than anything that had come before it. Certainly there was nothing in the possession of the new Resistance that could stand against the vessel. 

The shackles the pilot had worn on the Troop transport were removed as soon as he and his captors disembarked. Aboard the Star Destroyer, there was no reason to physically restrain the prisoner. Apparently enjoying themselves, or perhaps merely impatient to get out of their armor, his escort shivved him along with what he considered to be unnecessary roughness. Not that Stormtroopers of any ilk were noted for their individual diplomacy. Considering whom he had tried to shoot, he knew he ought to consider himself fortunate that they had brought him aboard still attached to all his important appendages. 

A physical state of being, he knew, that could be altered at any moment. 

On the other side of the enormous and impressive receiving bay, other Troopers were filling out, grateful that more of their number had not been lost on the expedition and looking forward to some rest and foot. Intent on reliving the battle below, they paid no attention to one of their own who fell behind. When he was convinced no one was looking at him, the Trooper turned and raced into the open transport. He removed his helmet and the terror in his expression was palpable. 

“FN-2187.” Behind him, Captain Phasma stood, having followed him. 

Terror gave away to cold fear as he found himself turning to face her over his shoulder, trying to control his pants. 

“I understand you experienced some difficulty with your weapon.” Her voice was aloof yet commanding, “Submit your blaster for inspection.” 

“Yes, Captain.” Facing forwards with a nod, not understanding how he managed to reply without stammering. Instinct as opposed to training, he decided; self preservation. 

“And who gave you permission to remove that helmet?” 

He swallowed hard. “I’m sorry, Captain.” 

He could feel her disgust as he struggled to put the helmet back over his head. “Report to my division at once,” Phasma said. 

Worse, he knew miserably, was likely to come later. 

General Armitage Hux, a ruthless senior officer and general who had been left in charge of the Finalizer, watched the prisoner enter the holding cell for interrogation and watched commander Ren approach him. He wore a parade uniform designed to broadcast his authority as general, posture in a formal parade stance with his red hair slicked back, green eyes intensely staring and pale skin reflecting the white fluorescent lights due to lack of sun exposure. 

Hux was strikingly young, thirty-four years of age but what he lacked in experience and wisdom, he made up for in his zeal. His greatest ambition was to become Supreme Leader and Hux was content to wield authority over both the armies and fleets of the First Order as Grand Marshal while Snoke reigned. Supreme Leader Snoke refused to grant this title to him and the young general continued to court the favor in order to promote his military career which resulted in his elevation as commander of Starkiller Base. With his ruler’s support, Hux proudly took on the Starkiller project, determined to become the face of the First Order regime.

“Did you receive what you were looking for?” Hux questioned the younger boy in front of him by a five year difference, face hidden behind the mask that the general had not trusted in the slightest. 

“He knows of it,” Kylo responds, nonchalantly. “I expect your men can _retrieve_ the answers out of him.” 

Hux gives a nod. “They will. I’ll be sure of it.” 

Kylo’s gaze began to linger in a discreet way but Hux was able to see it. Already knowing what he was looking for, or rather, _whom_. 

“And where _is_ she?”

The training room was in session and coming to life, an interactive simulation was on a full program rotation which included fighting off thirty holograms of men with blasters, rifles, and other various weapons that one would come across in battle; energy bows, riot control batons, electro-chain whips, vibro-arbir blades, electro-bisentos, etc. 

A girl stood in the middle of the men, running, dodging blows and shots that were taken at her effortlessly. This wasn’t her first rodeo and certainly wouldn’t be her last. 

She thrashes her head off to the side from an oncoming energy arrow that was whizzing for her skull, reaching the hologram of the assailant just as they were about to reload and kicks them directly in the gut. They hunch over with a grunt and she throws her left leg around their shoulder before kicking off with her right, spinning the both of them around. Her legs cradle around their neck tightly as she arches herself back to the floor, her hands landing on the ground and bringing her legs down in a fierce swing. She landed on her feet, in a crouch as her attacker flipped onto their back, snatching the energy bow for herself and began firing rapidly. 

Easily, twelve were shot down and with the one that she personally took out, there were only seventeen left for her to savagely beat with her nerve and determination. 

One comes up from behind and she whips around, flipping the bow in her hands and thrusts out the riser while her hands gripped the upper and lower limbs. The oncomer wielded a electro-bisento, crashing it directly onto the riser, the blade’s edge enhanced by ultrasonic generators that just barely missed the young girl’s forehead. She clenches her jaw, feeling the energy getting dangerously close to her chest, straining and squats down to get better footing placement. With a firm back grip on the upper limb, she powers a sudden swing to launch the electro-bisento off of her weapon, to the left, then flips the bow back around so the string faces outward. A look was all that it took for her to stare down the holographic man and slashed at his throat with the energy string, and down fell his body before glitching out. 

Her hazel eyes snapped over at the remaining targets, all with melee weapons and she wanted to play fair. She dropped the bow and went for the electro-bisento, twirling it above her head in a smooth motion and dropping into a fighting stance, showing off with a grin and motions for them to come and attack. 

It was rapid fire to say the least: dodge, swung, slash, duck, slash, dip, and whack—many, _many_ whacks. One after another, the figures glitched out of existence as the young adult was a hurricane of destruction with her deadly bladed shaft, landing hits from right to left, under and over. Her form was swift, alluring, and mesmerizing, making her way through the crowd with little to no thought and cutting down anyone who was in her path; who was a threat to her. 

_Three left,_ she noticed. The men cast away their weapons and she did the same, cracking her right hand’s knuckles by flexing them strainfully into a white fist before lifting her other hand. 

The first comes straight and twists her body, aiming her left elbow and throws it back forcibly into their throat, lifting her leg and kneeing him in the gut. She then places both of her hands behind his neck in a clinching hold and shoves his face down as her knee comes up and smashed into his face. Knocked out cold, his body pixels away. 

The second came in, getting a choke hold on her and she snarled, her lungs being deprived of air. She was too impressed with herself that she wasn’t entirely paying attention to her surroundings and if he had a weapon, she could’ve gotten injured or worse, killed. Mentally, she tells herself that she would do another training run tomorrow to teach herself discipline for her ignorance and moment of gloating. 

Her arm shoots straight up, her body turning and she elbows down on his outstretched arms, grabbing his palms with that clung to her neck with her other hand and pivots up her elbow to hit him from under the chin and kicks him in the shin. He stumbles back, a few feet in between them and she coughs, rubbing her sore throat for a few seconds and charges at him with her hands raised. She jabs with her left, hooking over with her right and lands a hit in his jaw and immediately crosses with her left. Rage was flaring up within her and her swings kept on coming, her being impulsive in the moment and using up all her energy. An uppercut snaps the opponent’s head off to the side and she lifts her left foot and kicks him as hard as she could in the chest which sent him landing on his back, air knocked out of his lungs. 

_One left._

The girl freezes, hearing vibro-arbir blades from over her shoulder and rolls her eyes. Without looking, she ducks one slash and another, twirling out of the way with minimal effort and her eyes bore into the grey eyes of the attacker. The last one _always_ went for the blades. Maybe it is because it offered more protection? Each hand occupied with a weapon to give them a safety net thinking that they were twice as dangerous. But they didn’t know about _her_. 

She spins on her heel, running . . . away? 

The man dropped his guard, eyeing her confused and not understanding why she had been fleeing from him. This had been a fight, a challenge. There was no victory for someone who ran away. 

Suddenly, while in his stupor, an electro-bisento is launched into his chest. He stares down, gaping at it and lifts his gaze to see her walking over with a pep in her step and gingerly, she grips the shaft and stares into his life draining eyes. With a tender wink, she rips the electro-bisento from him and down on his knees he falls, landing on his side and glitches out. 

A breath escapes her lips as she throws her head back, staring up at the black ceiling and her body relaxes, her arms loosening but her grip still firm on the bladed shaft because she knew that she wasn’t alone in the room. She sensed a presence, one that she knew all too well. 

“Did you enjoy the show?” She turns about sharply, staring directly into the mask of Kylo Ren. She had almost forgotten what his face looked like, spending the last six years of her life getting used to seeing him with the black mask on. 

She first met him when she was eighteen and he was twenty-three, Kylo’s and Hux’s shuttle crashed on her planet and came across a norwood, and Kylo had used the Force to hurt it, thinking he’d killed it. Upon inspection, the norwood sprung and struck him unconscious while knocking off his helmet. She had come out of the bushes with her parental figure Bylsma, who aimed his blaster at Hux, and tamed the norwood with her kindred spirit that she now understood was the power of the Force. 

She had kneeled down besides the boy, seeing his jet black hair and the mole freckles that peppered his face in a beautiful way. She gently touched his neck, feeling his pulse and something else that gave off a white hot sensation—a _connection_ of some sorts. A feeling that she could not entirely explain. 

Hux had told Bylsma and her that the boy was the son of Alderaan and his father was Han Solo and his mother was Leia Organa. Her ears perked up at the remark, having heard of her guardian’s stories of the infamous Smuggler and the Princess. 

Bylsma had overlooked the unconscious face, remarking how he had looked exactly like them and asked Hux if he was anything like Leia to which the ginger man nodded, saying, “he’ll deny it but he’s very much like her”.

She and Bylsma took the men to their home, laying Kylo down on her bed and stayed with him while Bylsma took Hux to the communication array; a small plan of the officer’s so he could enjoy the peacetime that was won by not having the son of Han and Leia up and around. 

The girl just gazed over the sleeping boy, wondering if his parents knew where he was because Hux certainly didn’t seem like a friend of his. That then made her think of her parents that had left her and her baby sister on Jakku, she couldn’t remember their faces but she remembered her mother’s soothing voice, telling her to watch over her. It brought a frown to her face. She hadn’t been on Jakku in years; she was scavenging for food in old wreck ships when she was grabbed by another scavenger and was forced to work as a slave, being passed off to other merchants and travelers to work for them. She always tried to escape, to head back to her sister but nothing had ever worked. And that’s how she needed up on this planet, in Bylsma’s care, being treated as an actual child and living a stable life. A part of her believed that her parents had gone back and took her sister home, not knowing where she was. But there was the other part that wanted to go back to Jakku, to at least try to search for her sister if she had not died. 

The boy stirred in his slumber, a soft mewl escaping his lips and her eyes trained on him. He was waking up and she softly whispered the name that she heard the pale, redheaded man referred to him by: “ _Ben,_ you’re awake.” He was so confused, wondering where he was and had happened. Kylo studied her, a telling echoing throughout his mind that she was important. Hux had then come in, congratulating him on being awake and saying that the First Order shuttle was coming to pick them up. 

When the shuttle came, Phasma stood with her small squad of Stormtroopers and shot the norwoods dead which saddened Bylsma and made the young woman shocked and enraged. Hux had revealed himself as a monster and she bared her teeth at him, nose flaring as her breathing became haggard and her fingers balled up to make fists. The man began choking, reaching for his throat as his windpipe was being crushed, enclosed and cheeks turned bright red. Hux’s eyes were wild, peering to Kylo for mercy and Kylo’s head shifted to her, seeing that she harbored the power of the Force to harm him. With delight, he smiled from under his mask and with a gesture, rendered the young woman motionless before she began collapsing in a sleep-like state. Kylo was close so even before she could hit, he swooped her up and into his arms, telling Hux that they needed to take her to Snoke. That was the last time she saw Kylo’s face, the last time she saw Bylsma. 

“Faltered at the ending there,” Kylo’s deep voice came through his mask. That was another thing, she had no recollection of what his actual human voice sounded like. 

She scoffs, spinning the shaft around in her hands just for fun. “I got out of it, didn’t I?” 

“You don’t use the Force,” his delicate yet booming steps echoing through the room, carrying him close to where she was. “Why?” 

“You can’t always rely on it.” She states simply.

“Eighteen years of your life you’ve learned how to survive on instinct before you have used the Force,” he was closer now and she had to crane her neck upwards just a bit to keep her gaze on his. “It needs to be your first priority. There’ll always be someone stronger than you.” 

“And someone who’s weaker.” She closed the space in between them, chests almost touching and he lowered his chin. 

He was silent for a moment before speaking: “You like to play fair. To give your opponent a chance to win.” Kylo’s voice seemed more husky through his vocoder, and she would be lying to herself if she had said that it didn’t send a chill down her spine. 

“Last time I checked, it wasn’t a crime. Or a call for concern.” 

“You think _I’m_ concerned?”

“Didn’t say you were,” a smug expression appears on her lips, her side stepping out of his way and strolls over to where she left her haversack and crouches down to it to grab her canteen of water. 

“You _need_ to use the Force. I won’t tell you again.” Kylo’s voice raises just a tad but it was nothing that she couldn’t handle as she rolls her eyes, shaking her head and shrugging him off. “Someone larger and stronger could be immune to those mindless breakable weapons, and then what are you going to do?” 

“What I always do best,” she gulps down her water and places her canteen back in her bag, extending her legs upwards and stretches out her limbs. “Improvise.” 

By this time, her voice was now irritating him and Kylo squeezed his fingers into his palms, the slight tightening of leather making an audible whisper. He wondered how she could be so careless and not wanting to use the Force when it was at her disposal. The girl was being difficult, something that he hadn’t learned recently but still, she was so compliant with Snoke and Hux. Just not with him. 

“When you’re being gunned down by an army of men with an Anoatian pit beast, I _assure_ you that your improvisation won’t save you in the slightest. And the First Order, nor will _I_ , come to your rescue.” 

“If I remember correctly, I saved you from a norwood that knocked you out after _you_ tried to use the Force.” The girl smiles at him with a judgmental tone of voice and _oh,_ how he hated that smile of hers. “Not every species can be harmed by the Force.” 

“But humans can be,”

Her smirk shifts into a frown for a moment but she quickly recovers, giving a half shrug of her shoulders and folds her arms in front of her chest, licking her sarcastic tempting lips. She had her knife prepared, all she had to do was pierce his flesh. 

“Maybe _you_ just use the Force too much for your fights. Can’t win without it, can’t lose with it. Am I right?” 

A growl signals from under his mask and she holds back a snicker, pursing her lips as the right corner turns upwards in a sly leer. Under his skin, she had gone and made a home. 

“You’re an ignorant little girl.” 

“And you’re just a bruting boy pretending to be a man by playing dress up.” That did it. 

Kylo tore his lightsaber from his belt, igniting the fiery red blades and lurched forwards at her. She had been anticipating this, smoothly dodging and ducking his rash efforts at trying to harm her. Around she spins, the two of them switching positions. He does a wide swing, her bending back, leveling her spine to the floor as the blade skimmed in front of her face by a few measling meters. She then placed her arms back on the floor, kicking up and as her feet came down, the top of her boot whacked down on Kylo’s wrist that held his lightsaber. 

It clashes down on the floor away from him, deactivating as she stands and Kylo whips around just in time to see her sprinting for his lower half. Her muscular arms entangling themselves directly behind his knees, head in the left quarter of his abdomen, lifting him up with her strength and body slams him back on the ground in a takedown. Quickly she adjusts, straddling his waist, pinning down his wrists, and locked his legs with her ankles so he wouldn’t be able to use momentum to rocket them over for her to be pinned. 

Kylo’s eyes locked on hers, seeing how her soft long brown hair framed her heart shaped face and her pink lips were forming into a tight beam. She leans down, getting close to him, saying, “And just like that, Commander Ren. Improvisation.” The girl then gets off, releasing him and strolls to her haversack, attaching it to her belt at her side. 

Kylo thrusts himself up and reaches out his hand, lightsaber flying into his hand and he angrily attaches it to his belt. He wasn’t upset that she bested him, she was a worthy opponent and fighter, but what did make him annoyed was that she hadn’t needed the Force to help her. But it still didn’t mean that she wouldn’t need it one day. 

“You proved your point,” he bitterly spits, the taste of the words weighing in on his tongue. “Wouldn’t hurt to know how to call on the Force to help you if needed.” 

She kept her back to him as she headed for the door to leave the training room and he exhaled with frustration, taking a moment to calm himself. 

“Nova,” he calls her by her name and he heard her own small exhale through the nose, stopping at the door. “You know the truth.” 

“If you want to train me and be my teacher to learn of the Force,” she spins on her heel, giving him a sneer, “be my guest.” 

“Tomorrow then.” 

“Tomorrow.” 

Nova heads straight for her quarters, her body slightly aching and legs jittering with each step she took to her little home aboard the Finalizer. She stares out at the one viewport that was nearby the corridor by her room, pausing and seeing that they hovered the planet of Jakku. Her breathing ceases as she steps closer to the window, pressing her hand up to the glass and closing her eyes. 

She was ten and her sister was five, the two of them in sack dresses as their parents shoved the girls into Unkar Plutt’s arms. The junkboss of Jakku. Her baby sister was screaming for their parents to come back, the freighter they were in taking off high in the sky and she just wrapped her arms around her tight, sniffling as Unkar tugged on the back of her neck. He grumbled to them to be quiet and took them in, teaching them to be scavengers and how to make a living with exchanges for portions at the Niima Outpost. Unkar had raised them for only two years after in a halfhearted, ham-fisted way before booting her and her sister out into the desert to fend for themselves as little girls. He had never bothered to check on them. To care. 

Nova had become the parent. She found old fabrics, creating clothes out of them to survive the harsh conditions of the sandy planet. Scourged for food in old shipwrecks and for any medical supplies since she had cut herself many times off rusty and sharpened edges of jagged metal. Found a trough where Hippabores drank from and used that water to bathe her and her sister, scrubbing themselves clean once a week. She had to grow up fast, caring for someone else while she did the same for herself. Then it changed all in an instant. She had been rooting for food at the age of twelve when she was snatched by a random visitor of the planet, using her for the benefit of fitting into small places to gather whatever he couldn’t reach. He took her from Jakku and she screamed and cried, trying everything to get back to her sister but it was no use. 

Up until she was fifteen, she had traveled to so many different planets, met a variety of species, learned their languages, and had every job under the sun that it exhausted her. Her clothing choice hadn’t changed from Jakku though; she had gotten new clothes but she fashioned them into how she dressed herself in the desert because it was the last resemblance she had to tie her with her family. Nova also even wore a dark brown leather cuff on her left wrist that she salvaged from an old wreck on Jakku. She used to wear two on each arm to support her wrists from getting injured but when her little sister Rey began searching with her, she handed it off as a token—as a symbol of their promise to be there for each other. Not once had she taken off, except for showers. 

She ended up on a forested planet with a Trandoshan and the reptitle had been attacked by a norwood, Nova running away and bumped into Bylsma, falling to the ground and stared up at him terrified. He had helped Nova up, asking if she was alright and she saw how he was able to calm the norwood creatures. He was a human male in his late fifties, having served as a palace guard before the Galactic Civil War and was off world when the Galactic Empire destroyed Alderaan. To escape the Empire, he fled to the forested planet and lived there ever since. Instantly, he had become her guardian. He fed her, gave her a bed to stay in, gave her clothes, and allowed her to be a child for three years. But like her life on Jakku, it had changed when Hux and Kylo’s shuttle landed. 

Nova opened her eyes, drawing in another breath and removing her hand from the glass, entering her quarters while she rubbed her leather cuff on her wrist; it now painted black since she was with the First Order. She catches sight of her in the mirror, stopping and gazes at her reflection. She wore a dark grey tunic with grey sashes that formed an criss-cross pattern in front of her chest and draped down by her legs, kept in place with her black belts and her arms were wrapped up in gauze to help with cushioning and to cover up the many scars she gotten as a child from her adventures. Her dark grey pants were long and they tucked into her black leather boots that came up to her knees. 

It was exactly like her Jakku attire but just in a different color, with longer pants and didn’t have calf high boots created out of Govath-wool. 

Nova shyly peels her eyes away from her reflection, undoing her gauze wrappings to reveal the many healed over wounds and bruises she had. She sat them on her table, pulling off her boots and sat them underneath with her socks, taking off her belt with the haversack and the sashes. Left only in her sleeveless tunic and pants, she walked through to her bed, climbing in for the night and cuddled up to her blankets. Her mind still lingering over what her baby sister was doing at the moment if she had managed to stay alive for fourteen years by herself. She thought too much that she felt a headache coming on and summoned herself to fall into a deep sleep, rolling onto her side and condemning her bones to feel heavy in the cotton sheets. 

Tomorrow was going to prove to be a big day.


	2. Scavenger

“When I said that you could train me by using the Force, I wasn’t agreeing to do this.”

Nova stood with her gauze wrapped arms crossed in front of her chest, giving Kylo a small pout as he stood before her in his robes and cowl, staring at her in the training room. She arrived with the belief that they’d be using the holographic fighters to use the Force on but nope, Kylo insisted that she’d use it on him. Or at least try to. It irked her. 

“You’ve had the Force for the entirety of your life. I only had it for six and even in that timeframe, I only ever used it once.” 

“Intentionally.” He corrects. 

She knits her eyebrows in confusion. “What?” 

“You only ever used it once on purpose. There’s been other times you’ve used it without knowing.” He informs her. “Someone doesn’t need training to use it, or call upon it, but it does help you to tap into the power.”

“Like hitting yourself repeatedly when injured,” it wasn’t a question, it was a fact. Snoke had told them before that purposely harming yourself when you’re already wounded can help you utilize the pain and tap into the dark side of the force.

Kylo nods sturdily. “You used it when you were on that planet with that old man—”

“Bylsma.” Nova instantly cuts in, her anger and grief slowly seeping through. “His name is Bylsma.” 

He just gives her a look, recognizing her body language and continues. “ _Bylsma_.” Kylo repeats for her own piece of mind, “you had a bond with the norwoods.” 

She scoffs. “Yeah, because he teached me how to care for them and to understand them.” 

“Which took him how long to do, and you, what, only a matter of days?” He shoots back, not pressing her on but trying to make her understand. To listen. “It’s a small touch of the Force but nonetheless, still a factor.” 

Kylo began to stalk around her small frame, eyes training on everywhere as he felt the aura radiating off of her like a beacon of light in the dark. Her formative years on Jakku had taught Nova to look for tactile solutions to impossible problems and that could be why it took so long for the Force to awaken inside her. Why it might take even longer to shake that kind of conditioning but Kylo would be persistent, he’ll train her well and good until she got it right. 

“Clear your mind,” he orders and Nova rolls her eyes, drawing in a deep breath and closes her eyes to do what he had asked. He allowed himself to grin, pleased that she wasn’t fighting against him. “What do you feel?” 

“You drawing closer to me,” Nova tells him, being sarcastic and smiles while he softly tsks. “Okay, okay. Don’t get your cape in a bundle.” 

He stands in front of her once again, placing his hands behind him and waits. Her diaphragm rising and falling slowly, her even breaths making small noises which prickled his skin through his clothes. Her eyes move fast behind her eyelids, searching for something and he takes a step closer, curiosity building up within him. 

“What is it?” 

Nova’s brain was clear with images and they were realistic, almost like a mirage as she expanded out from her body to encompass everything that was surrounding her. Her first impression was life—life all around her which she thought was ironic for standing in a place of dark purpose. She sensed Kylo first which wasn’t a shock to her, he was a powerful force. The next was herself, then Hux and beyond that, the encompassing of the Finalizer. She felt officers and droids, Stromtroopers and even the trash chute crushing up garbage in a compact state of being.

Without trying, her mind traveled to Jakku, most importantly the Tuanul Village; primitive and rural. She felt the extreme ultraviolet radiation emanated by the sun, the same sun that her skin had adapted to. It was peaceful, as was the case with most small communities situated on desert worlds. Despite the desolation that was apparent at first glance, it boasted its characteristic assortment of indigenous life forms. She could see them—the villagers—all dead, being covered in sand that blew in the wind, how their blood seeped into the ground, the charred buildings and tents blackened to a crisp.Violence left behind broken homes and shattered lives. 

Nova shrank from this new awareness, but sensed almost immediately that there was nothing to fear. All that her senses showed her had been but a moment. That moment was but one of trillions, a never ending cycle that’s being taken place over the entirety of the galaxy. It had begun eons before she was born and would go on for eons after she was dead. And it was itself part of something vastly larger, so enormous that her mind couldn’t grasp it, an immensity even the stars were but the tiniest portion of. 

Kylo’s hands unclasp from behind him, dropping to his sides, the top of his body closing in towards Nova. The moment was tense, he knew, and he was wanting to know what she was sensing, what the Force was showing her. But he practiced patience, waiting. Kylo was never the patient kind but for Nova, he’d make this an exception. 

“You slaughtered that Jakku village searching for the map of Skywalker, because you hate when your time is exercised to the point of being wasted; never receiving that time back, losing it forever.” Her words came out fast and efficiently, eyes still closed softly and shoulders relaxed. 

His body stilled, head tilting to glance her over. It truly did scare him how much she knew him inside and out. 

Her head rockets back a tad, sensing another thing. “You captured Poe Dameron, a Resistance pilot—the _best_ Resistance pilot in General Leia Organa’s eyes. He came a long way through difficult and dangerous circumstances to be there to meet with the man Lor San Tekka. He was confident in his skills and in his mission, wearing his worn down red and sand hued flight jacket that had been with him as long as he’d been in the Resistance, rising through its ranks.” 

Kylo was very impressed, noticing how her power within the Force was stronger than his. And he was the grandchild of Darth Vader. Her ability to sense all of this despite not having been face to face with the pilot, with Poe Dameron, was compelling. He inched closer towards her body, craving her impeccable strength. 

Her hazel eyes flick open, alert, redirecting to his visor. “He’s coming.” 

Kylo then shifted his stare to the door, sensing it a few seconds after she said it and sure enough, Armitage Hux entered through to bring him news that the Resistance pilot had been beaten to a pulp. Without another word from the redheaded general, Kylo peers to Nova, motioning for her to follow. 

The holding cell had no bars. They were not needed. There was nowhere aboard the ship for a prisoner to go. Even had there been, the single occupant was shackled tightly to this chair, unable to do more than turn his head. Poe knew he should have been flattered. They were taking no chances with him, But all he could think about was how he had failed his mission. 

So sunk was he in depression that he scarcely reacted when they beat him. Delivered with practiced skill, designed to hurt but not result in permanent damage, the blows fell intermittently, at different times of the day on different parts of his body. He did his best to shut out the pain, much as he succeeded in shutting out the questions. What he did not know was that they were merely a softening up, an introduction to his principal interrogator. 

That formidable individual arrived in due course. Recognizing him from the attack on the village, Poe threw himself bonds in a final, supreme effort to break free. Demanding the last of his strength, the failure left him completely exhausted. It was just as well, he consoled himself. Fighting against the figure now standing before him would be counterproductive at best. Fighting and resistance, however, were two different things, and he resolved to focus what remained of his energy on the latter. Doubtless his inquisitor could sense his determination. Was the masked figure smiling? There was no way to tell. 

While his interrogator’s greeting was far from challenging, the sarcasm underlying Kylo Ren’s words was plain enough. 

“I had no idea we had the best pilot in the Resistance on board,” he announces, using the info that Nova gave him just a mere minutes ago. “Comfortable?” 

Poe did his best to sound nonchalant. “Not really.” He gestured as best as her could with a shackled hand. “The accommodations leave something to be desired.” 

“I regret the necessity. They are gratuitous in my presence. But those others who have made your acquaintance possess only the most primitive abilities, and further defiance on your part would demand their unnecessary exertions.” He bent toward the prisoner. “None of this unpleasantness is necessary. We both wanted the same thing from the old man. Perhaps he was more forthcoming with you than he was with me.” 

Poe made a slow show of seriously considering the proposal before replying phlegmatically, “Hard to get cooperation from a dead man.” 

Kylo stood back, looming over him. “I am impressed. No one has been able to get out of you what you did with the map.” 

“Might wanna rethink your technique.” 

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” A female’s empathic voice captured his attention. 

The pilot darted his eyes over, seeing Nova stand right next to the masked figure, wearing a dark grey outfit that reminded him of the clothes that the villagers wore on Jakku, her arms wrapped in gauze and her long brown hair that rested delicately on her chest. She was pretty with her light skin, brown-green eyes, and youthful face which lacked pudge. Poe theorized that she had been taken from whatever planet she had been a part of and forced to join the First Order, being Kylo Ren’s right hand man. He hadn’t been far from the truth. 

“All time is transitory, and his”—she motions to Kylo—“is especially so. It’ll just go more quickly and less awkwardly if you dispense with childish nonsense.” 

Poe stared up at her, back to Kylo, then to her innocently. “I have no idea you’re implying.” 

She then shrugs. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” 

Kylo extended a hand towards the shackled prisoner, slight agony followed soon after. Poe began groaning, feeling as if his head was going to bust open any minute from the increasing pressure he felt. Kylo’s hand thrusts forwards and Poe’s head launches back against the chair with a thud, his throat clenching tight as he struggles against the sensation. 

“Where is it?” Kylo asks. 

Poe readied himself, his words straining. “The Resistance . . . will not be intimidated by you.” 

Nova watched as Kylo’s hand drew back towards himself and Poe’s body leaned forwards with it. 

“ _Where_ ,” Kylo’s voice was filled with venom, getting agitated, “is it?”

Poe clenched, the feeling overwhelming that he let out a yell and Nova took wind of it, feeling foggy. 

An image of an orange and white droid, a BB unit, was before the pilot in the village of Tuanul. Poe took out a leather bag that he received from Tekka, removing an artifact and its significance far exceeded its size. He placed it into the droid’s multi-reader and a confirming beep signals, indicating that it was securely lodged. He tells his mechanical companion that it was safer with him and to get as far away as the astromech could. The droid hesitated with the order and it brought on the memory of Nova being left on Jakku, hearing her sister’s screams and her mother’s voice. 

It dissipates as Poe passes out from being bone weary and Nova is gasping for air silently, seeing how Kylo faces her and she takes in a small breath to let him know that he didn’t have to worry. The Force in the room had come to life, buzzing all around her and it hardly left room for a clear mind of thought. They both headed for the blast door, exiting and leaving the passed out Resistance pilot in his restraints. 

General Hux was waiting for them. As expected, the interrogation had not taken long. The senior officer did not ask if it had been successful. No matter how determined the prisoner, no matter his or her individual resolve, Kylo Ren’s questioning invariably produced the same results. The only thing he did want to question, however, was why he thought it was important to take Nova in there with him. Hux had been strictly informed to keep an eye after her, to act as her protector, not Ren. 

The metal covered face regarded the general, the voice that emanated from behind it dispassionate. “The map to Skywalker’s location is in a droid. An ordinary BB unit.” 

Hux was plainly pleased, though that meant nothing to Ren. “Well then, if it’s on Jakku, we’ll have it soon. Makes it easy.”

“Even a single planet offers innumerable places for concealment,” Ren pointed out. 

Hux didn’t dispute the notion. “True enough, but the world below us is primitive. A simple droid will gravitate toward support facilities for its kind. Of these, Jakku has few enough.” 

“Jakku has nightwatcher worms.” Nova pipes up and the two males face her slowly. “They feed on junk. Better hope that droid isn’t in the belly of one.”

“That _is_ right.” Hux then grinned, stepping close to her. “You used to live on the worthless planet before being traded off.” 

Before even knowing it for herself, her eyes trained on Hux as if he were prey, jutting her chin out forcibly and his body flew back the corridor, landing on the ground with a groan. It was sudden and without a thought—an instinct. Nova’s gaze shifted to Kylo, waiting for him to do something. To say something but he didn’t say anything, just stood straight and quiet. 

Hux gets himself up, dusting off his uniform and pretends like nothing had happened. He clears his throat. “I’ll best be planning.” He turned away, leaving. 

Kylo sneaks a look at Nova, seeing her taking in deep breaths and he effortlessly enters into her mind. It brought her no discomfort, not even a small grimace of pain, their transaction had been knitted and formed over the years to the point that such an intrusion wasn’t even considered an intrusion. It was more of a silent agreement, a binding between the two young adults that made their minds open and acceptable to each other. No matter what. 

He was experiencing Poe’s memory of the BB unit within her mind and how it triggered her own memory of being abandoned on Jakku by her parents. Never had he known or asked of her life when she was a child, but with witnessing it from his own eyes and sensing her emotions, Kylo felt just how similar they were. Both had been abandoned, left by themselves to make sense of who they were and who they needed to become in such a harsh reality. Kylo found his belongings to the First Order, to the dark side, to Snoke. She was still searching for hers. 

“Nova,” he starts tenderly and she looks up at him, her eyes glistening with tears that she desperately was holding back. 

She had been alone, surviving all her life and searching for a sense of home in the many hands of different strangers that took her, passed her around as nothing more than currency. Twenty-five systems, thirty planets, and twenty-nine owners—Bylsma was not included as an possessor. Five years of suffering in silence and yet, Nova managed to keep a halo of good and light surrounding her heart. But to say that it couldn’t break and transform into daggers would be futile. Nova had displayed the anger she harbored just by small, boiling gestures that had dealt with harming Hux out of spite but Kylo understood that it could be used on anyone. She just focused it on Hux because he’s the one who lied to Bylsma, who brought Phasma and her Troopers to shoot the norwoods dead. 

“The Force brought you here,” he tells her consolingly. “If you must place your faith in anything, have it be that. Trust in it.” A small pause. “You saw how I entered the pilot’s mind, you even received the backbone of it. I’ll be teaching you how to do it. But first, you’ll need to confront your anger.” 

Kylo strides off, his robes flapping out from behind him and she follows, the small pitter-patter of her steps being crushed by his malice filled ones. Her eyes looming over his broad shoulders and back as her right hand traveled over to her left wrist, tracing the leather cuff and just thought of her sister. Maybe if she could see someone’s memories, inside of their mind, then possibly, she could somehow track down her baby sister and be a family again. 

Clad in cream colored desert clothing, Rey unloaded the BB unit droid from her speeder at the Niima Outpost and hefted the satchel that bulged from a new day’s scavenging. She had found him the day before, caught by Teedo in a net of local organic material. She saved him from being torn part by part, piece by piece, and even had fixed his bent antenna. Rey tried to leave the astromech after giving him directions to the outpost but he was adamant on joining her even when she said she wanted to be alone, and reluctantly, she allowed him. 

“There’s a trader in Bay Three name of Horvins. Don’t be put off by his appearance, he’s actually a pretty decent sort. Might be willing to give you a lift, wherever you’re going So . . .” She paused a moment, considering, and then shrugged. “Goodbye.”

She had only taken a few steps when a series of beeps caused her to look back and laugh. “Oh, really? Now you can’t leave? I thought you had somewhere special to be.” 

Plaintive and anxious, the electronic response was nothing like what she expected. Retracing her steps, she knelt to stare into the droid’s dark eyes. 

“Don’t give up. He might still show up. Whoever it is. Classified.” She calls him, recalling their conversation from when he told her that he was classified, Rey then stands and grabs her quarterstaff to lug over her shoulder. “Believe me, I know all about waiting.” 

The droid beeped questioningly. 

“For my family.” Rey tells him, a hopeful smile spreading out on her lips to try and cushion the grief she felt bubbling up inside of her but failed miserably. She stares out to the distance, her hand absentmindedly touching the leather cuff her sister gave her years ago. “They’ll be back. One day.” 

Her eyes began watering and Rey motioned for the droid to follow as she made her way deeper into town and waited in line at the exchange booth that was fashioned from a small salvaged sand crawler and surrounded by piles of recently purchased components. In contrast to the dominant tenting, it boasted a solid suspended ceiling in the form of another piece of salvaged metal. 

The lumpish shape seated slightly above and in front of her was not human. The Crolute’s stout build terminated at the top in a thick, fleshy, hairless skull whose most prominent feature was a broad, flat nose. The nasal cavity extended all the way up and into the bald, metal capped head. A separate layer of fleshed flowed downward like a second neck. Loose black pants were tucked into heavy work boots, while the long sleeved, dun colored shirt struggled to contain additional layers of neck. Half a dozen metal plates hung from his neck and shoulders to just below the thick knees. Muscles were hidden beneath an additional layer of blubber. 

While she knew he looked forward to their occasional business dealings, she could not say the same. Since that would have required not only listening to him but looking at him, she always strove to keep their encounters as brief as possible. 

Unkar Plutt, on the other hand, was delighted to extend their encounters for as long as she could stand it. He always took his time when examining her pieces, letting his gaze rove slowly over everything she put before him, making her wait. Only when the bounds of common courtesy had been markedly surpassed did he deign to acknowledge her presence. 

Rey hid the wave of revulsion that swept through her. Maybe one day, before the universe died, Unkar Plutt would take a bath. 

“Two interlifts. I’ll give you one quarter portion.” 

She reacted immediately. “Last week you said they were a half portion each, and you said you were looking for more.” She indicated the two devices. “Here’s two of ‘em.” 

Plutt’s flesh rippled. “Conditions have changed.” He hefted one of the components and squinted at it. “Besides, this one is missing a membrane. I don’t like paying for incomplete equipment.” Before she could object, he leaned forward. “But what about the droid?” 

Rey peered down at the spherical mechanical being. “What about him?” She asked guardedly. 

“I’ll pay for him.” 

Behind her, the BB unit began to beep apprehensively. Rey ignores him, intrigued and stares back up at Unkar to see him practically drooling. 

“Sixty portions.” He states, bringing out full nutrition packets from behind his chair and stacking them out in front of her, on display and people behind her in line gasp at the sight. 

She moves forwards, arms enveloping them in a pile. Sixty portions would feed her for . . . for . . . for a very long time. Time enough to do other work that had been long neglected. Time enough to relax and rest her bones. Time enough for _leisure_ —a word that had long ago been dropped from her vocabulary ever since her big sister Nova was taken . . . 

_Nova._ Rey felt her muscles freeze and she stared down at the droid, thinking hard. Her sister had been stolen from her, exchanged for food and now she was doing the same to the poor, isolated droid who was waiting for someone to come back to him. A pain in her heart stirred and she looked back at the merchant. 

“Actually,” her voice is small as she willed herself to remove her hands from the portions and grabbed the original one quarter portion he first offered her for the interlifts. “The droid’s not for sale.” 

“Think of what you’re doing, girl.” Unkar warned. “Considering your condition—”

Grinning tightly, she echoed his earlier observation. “Conditions have changed.” 

“Conditions have . . .” He looked like he was going to explode. “You think you can be snide with me? You think you can play games here? Who do you think you are?” 

She drew herself up with as much pride as she could muster. “I am an independent operator, scavenger of the metal lands, free of debt and beholden to no one. Least of all to a small time trader named Plutt.” 

“You are . . . You are . . .” The merchant tried to control himself. “You have nothing. You _are_ nothing!”

“On the contrary,” she shot back, “I just told you who I am. As to what I have, that would be my freedom and my pride.” Murmurs of assent rose from behind her, from the vicinity of the worktables. She had said aloud what her colleagues and compatriots, regardless of species, all wanted to say but dared not. At least not to Plutt’s ugly face. 

All pretense of deference gone, Rey took a step toward the chair and shot the merchant behind it with a steely glance that he visibly flinched. The BB unit reacted with a beep of admiration. Resisting the urge to give the sphere a reassuring pat, Rey concluded the day’s dealings with Unkar Plutt. 

“The droid is not for sale.” 

With that she turned and headed toward the big tent’s exit, the excitedly deeping droid pacing her effortlessly. 

Unkar watched her go. He was starting to calm down, his mind working systematically. The confrontation had almost escalated beyond repair. Such a loss of control was not like him. In the course of negotiations he would often shout, yell, occasionally pound the service shelf in front of him. But all the time, he was calculating. It was all about the business, all about the profit. Never personal. Not even now, even it involved the lovely but disrespectful Rey. That was something of a pity, he mused as he picked up a communicator. 

“Follow the girl and get that droid.” With a free hand he slammed the service portal opening shut, leaving the scavenger holding his bag of goods and staring blankly at the merchant’s back. 

The training center of the Finalizer was activated once again, Nova occupying the space that was given to her as she focused on an old group of out-to-date medical droids that rested a few feet away from her and Kylo. Her right hand was extended, her arched fingers spread out, shaking as she strained them and herself to try and make any part of the rusted bundle of metal to move or bend at her resolution. Sweat began ooze upon her forehead, brain pounding against her skull as she threw all the concentration she had at the stupid metal being. It began vibrating, wanting to move but that’s all it did, just taunting her until she felt her arm going limp. 

Nova exhales, overcome with fatigue and lets her arm droop at her side as she kneels down to the floor, breathing heavily. “I can’t do it.” 

“You can, and you will.” Kylo tells her, being strict. 

Her weary eyes flicker up to him. “We’ve been at this for a while now. I can’t do it.” 

“You have choked Hux without touching him and not too long ago, you sent him flying back through the air _without_ touching him. Again.” 

With a deep exhale through her nose, she gets under her feet again and stares at his mask. “I can’t do this.” 

“You _can_.” He nods to her, his voice raising louder. “You have anger in you, it emits from you, you’re just not using it and because of that, it festers until you can’t hold back. Lashing out on the person who makes the wrong statement or moves towards you.” 

Nova holds back a smirk. “That’s rich coming from someone who has tantrums such as yourself.” 

“This isn’t my lesson, it’s _yours_.” Kylo reminds her bitterly, a forewarning. “Try again, and bring one of the droids to us.” 

Nova’s right arm raises up again, focusing on the droid front and center and right away, her hand shook from trying. The droid made a few creaks and _tings_ , shifting in place. It was better than nothing but it still infuriated her. She was so close yet so far from improvement and Nova pushed, stretching out her arm even more. Her heartbeat pounded between her ears, making it the only sound she could focus on and the rapid pattern made her unable to focus. A small yell escapes her throat and she tears her hand away, running her hands back through her long, soft hair before holding her scalp for a moment or two. Any second now, she was awaiting for it to combust from the intense pressure that was building up inside of it. 

“You’re upset.” 

“Yeah, no snot, you nerf herder.” Nova graped at him. 

Kylo took a step closer to her. “Use it.” He urged her on, knowing that she was starting to get annoyed and watched as she stretched out her right arm for the seventh time that day. “I want you to think about how you were left on Jakku, how you were then taken away and forced to leave everything behind.” 

The images came in one by one then flooded throughout her mind and Kylo was able to see them too, she was projecting them without even trying.

“Remember what you felt, and _how_ it felt. The fear, the uncertainty, the anger. Oh, all _that_ anger.” Kylo pressed on and Nova’s teeth clenched, her eyes getting glossy as she fumed. “Channel it.” 

The droid shifts up ahead, trembling and Nova is doing the same as the screams of her sister and of her filled her senses.

“Tapping into your fears, your pain, and your hate, it can make you faster, stronger, and brutal. Dig deeper, Nova.” 

The droid began drawing closer and closer, inch by inch, slowly but surely. It was something but Kylo knew she could do better. _Far_ much greater. 

“All your life you’ve been mistreated. Had been enslaved.” He presses. 

Flashes of Unkar Plutt then crept up on her. How he never truly cared about her or Rey, how he only cared about them being the perfect scavengers for his business. Next was of her being taken by a Melitto, transferred off to a Dybrinthe in exchange for ten portions. The cycle grew, taking her offworld and into the Udbur system, on planet Nag Ubdur where she stayed for five months until she was traded off and taken to Hoth. Constantly traveling to foreign places, meeting new creatures and species, all using her for their greedy benefit. 

“They treated you like property, never like a person.” Kylo tests her, getting closer to her, noticing how the rest of the droids were swaying. “They never cared about you.”

All those nights when she cried herself to sleep, dreamt of being reunited with her sister and their parents, having a stable and welcoming home. Those times she was told to be quiet and to do her job, getting locked up if she hadn’t done so or left the job incomplete. The days where they placed her in dangerous places and life threatening circumstances, her arms being raw with cuts and scrapes, dripping crimson blood. She’d ask for them to care for her but they shrugged her off, saying she’d be fine and still ignored her pleas as she tried to heal. They’d sent her out to scavenge, her hands sore, knees inflamed. It was a tedious game in a vigorous pattern; one Nova desperately wanted to break out of.

“They took everything from you. They stole your childhood, Nova.” He shouts through his vocoder, getting wound up himself from her power. It was intoxicating, rolling off of her in waves and making the hairs on the back of his neck stand high. 

Nova let out a small grunting yell which bounces off the walls and thrums back into her body. The wicked memories being wrapped around her brain, anger swelling in her lungs, fear clenching her heart, and a power charging through her veins. 

The droid that came before her began breaking down, imploding violently which made sparks erupt from the wires and chips that were programmed inside of it. The rest of them were lifted onto their feet, off the ground, bending, shaping, and having limbs being torn off by an invisible warrior who seeked nothing but bloodshed in the form of revenge. Here, there, every and anywhere, pieces of the droids flew as the lights’ intensity began growing brighter and brighter. 

The Force suddenly became heightened all at the expense of Nova’s untamed emotions, her hazel eyes seemed to darken from what Kylo observed but quickly, the darkness diminished and was replaced with shock and drowsiness. It had been too much, too fast. 

Every memory was wiped out of existence, no longer filling her senses and Nova’s hand slings down, her body following in pursuit, ceasing all activity. Kylo promptly catches her in a cradle with his left hand under her knees and right wrapped around her back, gripping tightly onto her ribcage. Her head statically tipped back, eyes drawn shut and her right arm drooped downwards. She was weak, drained; he had wanted to push to do her best, to unleash everything that she held in but she went beyond that. Nova had unearthed something inside of her, using it as energy and it rendered her broken. 

“Nova?” He softly shakes her as a weird panging feeling begins to stir up inside of him. It was an unnatural, peculiar, feeling. Felt like bile was threatening to travel up his throat and seep through his mouth but he wouldn’t let it, not while he held her securely in his arms. 

Out of her haze, Nova groans sheepishly and her heavy eyelids revealing her stare that pierced directly into Kylo. Gradually, she lifts her head which is shaky and wanders her eyes to peer around them, disoriented and rubbing her temple with her right hand. 

“I . . I did it.” She was amused, letting her arm fall in her lap and head roll off onto the side, resting against Kylo’s chest. 

He cleared his throat. “Can you stand?” 

She nods without a word, feeling too miserable to do so and he gently lowers her feet to the ground first. Nova steadies herself on his shoulder, willing feeling into her limbs before he had let her go completely. A breathey “thank you” escapes past her lips as Kylo steps back, looking back at her and she furrows her brows. Of all mysteries of the galaxy and unexplained questions she had, the top two surrounded the very boy that stood before her in robes, a cowl, and a mask. 

His name was once Ben Solo, the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa, but he now called himself Kylo Ren and dismissed any talk of his parents. Nova could understand that much, at the very least. Long ago, she told herself that her parents left her and Rey on Jakku to trade them off for something but she hoped that wasn’t the truth. She liked to believe that maybe they took them to Jakku and were too caught up in touring the planet that they’ve forgotten about them and left without a second thought. But who knew? 

Still, Kylo found his way to Snoke who raised him to be who he was. Kinda like how Bylsma raised Nova to be who she was. They had similarities, there was no denying that but they were also different. Nova just guessed that she would be able to crack the riddle for herself; why had he chosen to join the First Order when his parents were Resistance? 

The second inquiry was for her own personal, selfish thinking. Kylo told her that the Force brought her to the First Order, and she wanted to know why. She wasn’t important, she was a nobody who could use the Force if she so chooses. Just a scavenger in a costume, standing next to those of high authority, under the eye of a powerful being, and who has comfortable housing and a full stomach. 

A boom shakes the ground and Kylo and Nova were both wondering what it had been, abandoning the training room and headed straight for the main bridge of the Finalizer. Another strike caused Nova to fumble but not fall, balancing herself out and rushed to the commander’s side since his legs were longer and took bigger strides. 

General Hux was peering over the shoulder of Lieutenant Mitaka as he stood on the bridge. While there could be no single central command station on a vessel as enormous as the Star Destroyer, Mitaka’s console approximated such a position as effectively as anything could. 

Hux could hardly believe what he had been told. Not only had the prisoner escaped, he had managed to find his way to an operational hangat, slip aboard an outfitted and ready-to-fly fighter, and blast his way free. And not just any fighter, but a Special Forces TIE fighter. If the proof had not been right in front of him, making a treacherous nuisance of itself as the ship’s perceptors strove to keep track of the stolen fighter, Hux would not have believed such a thing possible. 

A very slight shudder ran through the deck. Mitaka’s voice was even, but Hux could tell that the dark haired lieutenant was shaken by what he was seeing. “They’ve taken out an entire bank of defensive weaponry. And they continue to attack. They’re not running.” 

Hux didn’t understand. It was beyond comprehension. Prisoners _ran_ from prisons, they didn’t stick around to assault their jailers. The action smacked of an unshakable wish to commit suicide. What he knew of the escape prisoner strongly suggested a desire to live. What had happened to change him? Or, Hux thought, was the profile that had been drawn up by the phytechs simply wrong? 

Formal profile or not, of one he was now certain: They had badly underestimated what had seemed to be a Resistance pilot on the verge of physical and emotional collapse

“Engage the ventral cannons.” Hux ordered. 

“Bringing them online,” Miktaka nods. 

No matter how close a flight path the escape pilot took, Hux knew that sensors would prevent the guns from firing adjacent to the ship’s structure itself. Exceptional pilot he was, the escape prisoner would know that. Probably was counting on it, which was why he continued to fly so close to the Star Destroyer’s surface instead of bolting for empty space. Now Hux was counting on the pilot sustaining the same strategy. The longer he remained within the destroyer’s sphere of armed influence, the more forces could be brought against him, and the less chance he would have to make a second, more permanent escape. 

A voice sounded behind him: unmistakable, controlled, and plainly displeased. “Is it the Resistance pilot?” 

Hux turned to face Kylo Ren and Nova at his side. Unable to see past the metallic mask, unable to perceive eyes or mouth, one had to rely on subtle changes in voice and tone to try and descry the tall man’s mood. Hux knew immediately that mood equaled if not exceeded his own consternation. 

“Yes, and he had help.” Though Hux was loath to admit it, he had no choice. “One of our own. We’re checking the registers now to identify which Stormtrooper it was.” 

While the all concealing mask made it difficult to tell the focus of Ren’s attention, it was plainly not on the general. “The one from the village. FN-2187.” 

It unnerved Hux that Kylo Ren had managed to ascertain the identity of the rogue Trooper before the ship’s own command staff. But then, Ren had access to a great many aspects of knowledge from which ordinary mortals like himself were excluded, Hux knew. He would have inquired further, but the taller figure had already turned and headed off. Ren’s indifference was far more unsettling than would have been anything as common as a straightforward insult. Shaking off the encounter, Hux turned his attention back to the lieutenant’s console. 

“Ventral cannons hot,” the lieutenant reported. 

“Fire.” Hux commanded. 

Nova was still on the bridge, stepping up and looming console to console behind technicians and fire control officers. Anxiety was building up inside of her for some reason and she managed to keep it restrained as tech spoke up. 

“They’ve been hit.” 

Nova reached out with the Force, seeing the TIE’s cockpit filled with acrid smoke and fumes as the engines flared wildly, sending it out of control. And since it was headed straight toward the surface of Jakku, that was where it continued to race. She saw Poe Dameron unconscious and the Trooper, FN-2187, he had his helmet off and Nova could see his worried face. His dark skin drenched in sweat, his chocolate eyes frantically looking all around in horror as they filled with tears. Grappling a handle, he wrenched on it as hard as he could and it moved smoothly and without resistance. His body was then being ripped away from the TIE fighter and the universe spun around him before passing out. 

Nova was pulled back from her small vision, Hux feeling relief and heading over to where she stood behind the tech’s console. The general’s gaze moving rapidly from one readout to the next. The details coming in appeared conclusive, but in this matter that was no room for mere ninety-nine percent certainty; no room for analytical equivocation. 

“Destroyed?”

The tech’s response as General Hux studied his instruments confirmed the circumspection. “Disabled only, it would appear.” 

Hux leaned closer. “He could be trying to throw us off.” 

“If so,” the tech reported, “he’s going to grave extremes. Sensors show pieces of the fighter are becoming detached and flying off. Such actions could not be carried out by the operator of the fighter itself and must be the result of the craft having suffered serious damage.” He paused for a moment, added, “I hew to my original opinion, sir. No one would choose to voluntarily engage in a descent such as the one fighter is currently taking.” 

“Very well, then,” Hux conceded. “They are disabled, perhaps fatally so. Given that and what you can divine of their present vector, what is the projected location of touchdown?”

“Jakku.” Nova speaks before the technician analyzes his readouts. “Poe was going back for the droid . . . BB-8.” 

Hux stares at her, nodding thoughtfully. “Makes sense. Otherwise they would have tried to hit lightspeed as soon as the pilot had had enough of teasing us.” He shrugged slightly. “It doesn’t matter now. Or at least it won’t once termination of this regrettable interruption is confirmed. Send a squad to the projected crash site and instruct them to scan not only the wreckage but the surrounding area. If they can’t find bodies, then have them vac the debris. I won;t accept that the pilot and the traitor are both dead until I have tangible biological proof.” His tone darkened only slightly, but it was enough to cause the tech to wish the senior officer would resume his wandering. 

“Nightcrawler worms, Armitage. Remember?” Nova connects eyes with him, slowly getting defense over wanting to at least and try to save the Trooper. There was something about him that felt familiar; it had been the same feeling she had with Kylo the first time she touched him. 

“I do, Ms. Hux. How could I forget?” He softly smiles, placing his hands behind his back. “The Scavenger is correct to put all things into consideration. If the ship is gone because of a metal eating worm, biological traces are acceptable.” Hux murmured to the tech. “But a couple of skulls would be better.”


	3. Counterbalance

It felt to Finn—the Trooper who was given the name by Poe—as if it took him longer to escape from the confines of the encapsulated, ejected gunner’s seat than it had to travel from plunging fighter to planetary surface. The clips and buckles, braces and foam that were intended to set him down in one piece now seemed designed to prevent him from ever emerging onto his own two feet. Eventually he succeeded in freeing himself from the tangle of safety tackle. Staggering clear, he took in his surroundings. His spirits fell. He was alive, but if the environment in which he presently found himself was anything to go by, not for long. 

The dusky dune field stretched in all directions, to every horizon. Somehow blue sky and sand now seemed more forbidding than the blackness of space. The warships that had largely been his home were sealed, environmentally controlled little worlds. Anything one needed was readily available, right at hand. Food, water, entertainment, sleeping facilities: All were no more than a few steps away. It was more than a little ironic that someone comfortable in the vastness of space should suddenly find himself suffering from a touch of agoraphobia. 

Something manifested over the eastern dunes. Smoke. The wind had dropped off, allowing it to rise in a column instead of blown sideways and dispersed. Otherwise he would have noticed it earlier, despite his distress. Someone was making a fire in this forsaken place, or . . . 

“Poe!” He yells. 

Finn started toward it, struggling in the remnants of his armor. Logic insisted no one could have survived the fighter’s crash without ejecting beforehand, as he had done. But logic also insisted that it was impossible to escape from a First Order spacecraft, and they had done that. Not that it would matter if he was found here, wandering alive the dunes. Of one thing he was certain: His former colleagues would not understand, no matter how hard he tried to explain. No one fled the First Order and lived. 

“Poe!” The sand sucked at his feet as he stumbled. “Poe!” 

Flame had joined smoke in enveloping the wreck of the TIE fighter. Built more robustly than the typical ship of its class, the Special Forces craft had survived the crash landing, although hardly intact. Debris from the impact was scattered over a wide area. Careful not to cut himself on twisted shards of metal and still hot composite, he pushed through the heat and haze until he reached the cockpit. It lay crushed and open to the desert air. Trying to shield his eyes against the smoke, Finn moved in closer. Something—there was something sticking out of the wreckage. An arm. 

“Poe, I got you!” 

Ignoring the head and licking flames, Finn reached in until he could get a grip on it and pulled until it came free in his hands. No arm, no body; just Poe’s jacket. He felt his legs start to go out from under him. But they hadn’t buckled, the ground did. Looking down, he saw the sand beginning to slide beneath him. His feet were already half covered. He was sinking. In front of him, the ruins of the ship began to slide into the hollow in which it had come to rest. Sand was crawling up the winds and reached for the open cockpit. If he didn’t get away from the quicksand, it was clear he was going to join the TIE fighter in premature internment. He began backpedaling frantically, yelling at the disappearing vessel. 

“ _Poe!_ ” 

Going. Down, down into the sand, to a depth that could not be imagined. Maybe just below the surface, he thought as he scrambled to find safe footing. Maybe much, much deeper. 

The more the sand covered the fighter, the faster the vessel sank, until in a few moments it was completely gone. Joining it was most of the debris that the hard landing had thrown aside. There was nothing. Finn frowned, gasping for breath and peered down at Poe’s jacket that he still held—

A violent explosion erupted from beneath his feet, jolting him and he whips his head upwards. For an instant, the substantial fireball that blew skyward flared an angry black and red before dissipating into the atmosphere. Regaining his footing, Finn stumbled forward. In place of the vanished TIE fighter there was some scattered debris and fused sand. Nothing more. 

Drained of energy and overwhelmed, Finn looked around wildly and only saw silent dunes. It was as if nothing had ever touched this place; certainly not the hand of civilization. 

He had escaped. He had survived. He had landed intact and apparently unharmed. And by the looks of things, he was just as dead as if none of it had ever happened. 

Finn began wandering, the heat continued to intensify and he removed his Stormtrooper armor piece by piece before covering himself with Poe’s jacket for some shade. Squinting into the glare, he saw nothing in front of him but sand. Where was he? This traveling among and between dunes was taking him nowhere. He needed a goal, a destination. His gaze rose. To find that, he needed to acquire a more thorough view of his surroundings. 

There are physical tasks more daunting than climbing a steep sand dune, but few that are as frustrating. One step sliding backward for every two up, and that was assuming that the climber didn’t lose his footing and roll all the way back down to the bottom of the sand hill. Determined to make it to the top, Finn kept fighting, legs churning, until at last he stood on the crest of the small, sandy mountain. His first glimpse of his surroundings was as disheartening as he had feared: more sand, piled into slightly lower dunes. But in the distance off to his left . . . 

Yes! A settlement! What kind he didn’t know, but a settlement would have water and food and shelter from the sun. He started carefully down the far side of the dune he had so painfully ascended. At least now he had a destination but was not yet willing to allow himself any hope. 

Nova opened her eyes after sensing Finn, standing before the three-dimensional imagery of his Trooper personal history and training records. He was alive and had found Niima Outpost, the junkyard village that she and her sister were a part of. She couldn’t help being excited that he was okay but her happiness was short-lived when she remembered that Hux was only a few inches away. 

The red haired general stood right at her side, reviewing the files carefully. When analyzing a psychological profile in search of an anomaly, one looked for small clues. A bit of correspondence, a favored quote, even the posture of the individual in question. Any of these might suffice to to an explanation for the Trooper’s inexplicable behavior. If there were any indications of mental imbalance or Resistance sympathies in the Trooper’s records, Hux expected they would be subtle, not blatant. 

But so far, there was nothing. Nothing to suggest that FN-2187 might one day go rogue. Nothing to indicate he was anything other than a representative of his kind, no different from his comrades. Nothing to distinguish him as a person, as a soldier, as an exception. 

Nova picked up on Hux’s thinking—how he mused the fact that FN-2187 came across as mind numbingly ordinary was more unsettling than if his history had been full of semi-traitorous rants and near psychotic episodes. It suggested that the ranks might harbor others like him. They couldn’t be permitted to know what he had done. Psytechs were already hard at work counseling those who had come into contact with him, whether through unremarkable everyday interaction or in the course of his violent flight. The whole incident had to be tamped down, obscured, and buried lest the germ of an infection spread through the ranks. 

If there was one thing a competent fighting force didn’t need, Hux and even Nova knew, it was unforeseen outbursts of individuality. 

Nova played with the hem of her gauze wrappings as light from the holos reflected off the chrome clad figure standing on the other side of Hux. 

“Nothing noteworthy,” Phasma said. “FN-2187 was assigned to my division, received some additional specialty training, was evaluated, and sent to reconditioning.” 

Hux shook his head slowly as he continued to scrutinize the records. If anything stood out in the history of Stormtrooper FN-2187, it was his exceptional banality. “No prior signs of nonconformity. Not so much as talking back to a superior. He appeared so ordinary as to be invisible.” 

“This was his first offense.” Phasma betrayed nothing other than professional interest in the episode or in the man, “It is his only offense.” 

Nova’s eyes drifted towards the female Trooper then to Hux before dropping her stare down at her boots, her feet shifting within them uncomfortably. Her training with Kylo had done something; it had left her with a tingling sense that shook her very veins and made her bones feel stronger. It opened up her senses and she could practically experience the Force that surrounded her and everyone else. She had never used it so intensely before and now, it had awakened something inside of her that’d been laying dormant for years. 

Entering the room, Kylo Ren moved to join them at Nova’s left hand side. “Finding the flaw in your training methods won’t help recover the droid, General Hux.” Although his mask concealed his facial expression, Nova knew there was rage simmering below his calm demeanor.

“And yet, there are larger concerns,” Hux insisted. It was evident from both Hux’s tone and body language that he held no love for the newcomer. The feeling was mutual; neither took pains to his contempt. 

“Not for me.” 

With no good reason, Nova reached out for Kylo with her pinkie and hooked it with his for just a second. He didn’t move, unphased by the simple touch but as she took her small digit away, she could’ve sworn that he lingered after. 

“Supreme Leader Snoke was explicit. Capture the droid if we can. Destroy it if we must.” 

Kylo paused to consider the general’s words. “A simple enough task, or so it would seem. Find one droid. Just how capable are your soldiers, General?” 

Hux turned away from the Trooper’s holofile. He respected Kylo and his abilities, but he was not afraid of him. One did not rise to the rank of general in the forces of the First Order by showing fear. 

“I won’t have you questioning my methods.” 

“What methods would those be, General? Those that allow a single common Trooper to free an important prisoner from confinement, escort him to an operating hangar, and assist him in fighting his way to freedom? What methods teach such expertise? They’re obviously skilled in committing high treason. Perhaps Leader Snoke should consider using a clone army.” 

It was with great difficulty that Hux restrained himself. “My men are exceptionally trained. Programmed from birth to be loyal to one another, to their officers, and to the Order. The appearance of a single abnormality does not give you the right to question methods that have been refined through long—” 

Kylo interrupted the general’s impassioned defense. “Then they should have no problem retrieving the droid that holds the map. Unharmed.”

“Again, this map. Which for all I know may or may not even exist.” 

Kylo’s voice darkened to a degree that caused Phasma to take a step backward but not Nova, and she was directly next to him. “I don’t think I care for your implication, General. You would be wise to keep such thoughts to yourself. You would be wise not to think of them.”

Hux held his ground. “My duty is to fight for the First Order with every iota of information, every scrap of material, and every functioning Trooper at my command. That was in the oath I took. That is the oath I have sworn to uphold, including keeping Ms. Hux here under _my_ supervision. The Supreme Leader named her a Hux for a reason.” His gaze did not flinch from the mask. “Careful, Ren, that your _personal interests_ do not interfere with direct orders from Leader Snoke.” 

Nova had sneaking suspicion that General Armitage Hux wasn’t just referring to the droid that carried the map and it made her palms produce sweat. Kylo had been spending a considerable amount of time with her in the past two weeks but she didn’t think much of it. The tension between the two men was palpable and she felt herself getting choked up, Kylo taking a huge step towards Hux to get in towards his face but Nova purposely stepped in front of him. 

“The stolen TIE fighter was forced down in the region that is home to the Niima Outpost.” Nova found herself saying out loud in an urgent tone, desperate to limit the apprehension that was swelling in the room. “It’s where I used to live. The droid would be there if it had survived.” Her left hand was sprawled out across Kylo’s chest, making sure he stayed back as her eyes hooked on Hux’s. 

Glad of the opportunity of change in subject as well as to report something positive, Hux replied to her in a more amenable tone of voice. “I concur. Furthermore, the traitor’s armor was strung out along a single trail in the desert where it had been abandoned. While the viewable footprints were interspersed among the dunes, they form a consistent pattern heading toward Niima.” He smiled wide at Nova then thinly as his stare shifted to Kylo. “A strike team is already en route.” 

Nova felt Kylo take another step closer and her body went along with him, fingers still glued onto his robes which made her surprised. If she were anyone else touching him, she would’ve been thrown across the room or in a Force choke hold. 

“I want that map, General. For your sake, I suggest you get it.” Kylo seethed. “Nova,” his tone then became lighter which made her draw her hand away quickly, “your training still needs to be completed.”

Before Hux could object again, Kylo turned and departed back the way he came with Nova. If he felt the hate flowing in his direction from the senior officer behind him, he chose not to respond to it. His attention was on Nova and her only, knowing that she’d need to broaden her power and master her very own lightsaber before she’d be ready. 

Finn finally stumbled into Niima Outpost, the Jakku sun had burnt him, dehydrated him, and tormented him—but it had not beaten him. Old ship parts towered around, relics of better times, heralds of space travel past. He hurried through tents, dawning the Resistance jacket, begging for any water that could be given to help his dry throat. Merchants and traders eyed him speculatively, and some scavengers pointed and joked. Others, having suffered similarly from blowing sand and grit and sun, expressed murmured sympathy. That was all the help the stranger was offered. Niima Outpost did not coddle the weak. 

His eyes shifted around and landed on something flat, fat and ugly that was drinking from an open water trough. A happabore. Gaping at it, Finn thought it looked neither friendly nor edible. He didn’t care. It was the water he was interested in, and it was to the water he ran and kneeled down over the side. Cupped hands dipped in, drawing the dingy liquid to his mouth and gulped. It felt wonderful against his hips but tasted awful going down his throat. He spat, revolted. Fighting down the urge to gag, he overrides his brain and cups more water to drink. 

The young man didn’t know if the happabore was tired of sharing his space with the biped or was simply being friendly when it pushed him over. So indistinct was the gesture that Finn couldn’t make out if it was being supposed to be a deliberate butt or just an amiable nuzzle. Whatever the creature’s motivation, it knocked him off his knees and into the sand. 

He then heard something going on, turning his head to see an excellent view of a confrontation that had started up in the nearby marketplace. He frowned. The young woman who was being accosted by two far larger individuals was fighting back. Rising, he impulsively moved to help her. 

“Hey!” He rushes forwards. 

The one man backhanded her and she grew angry, her quarterstaff that she held whacking him in the knee then in the face as the other grabbed her from behind. She thrashes her feet, picking the one back that she recently hit, twisting and turning out of the brute’s grip. He had found himself on the wrong end of a ferocious assortment of bows delivered by the staff she was wielding. In short order, both ruffians had found themselves unconscious. 

Finn stopped his run, impressed and watched as she pulled off a sack that was on the piece of property that was the apparent source of the dispute. From the distance that he stood, he saw the spherical mechanical droid that had belonged to Poe Dameron. BB-8. 

As the girl kneeled, speaking to it reassuringly, it shook itself and turned its head to spot Finn. It rotates his head back to Rey, beeping as if someone pulled its rationally ship. The cybernetic talk didn’t unsettle Finn half as much as the expression that came over the girl’s face as she looked in his direction. 

“Who?” He heard her speak in a light, soft accent. “ _Him?_ ” Finn glanced around, trying to see what she was staring at because there was no way that it could have been him. 

The girl stood, staff in hand and began charging at him, singing her arms to add momentum in her step. Finn then realized that she was heading for him, taking off in a dash and tried to find a path through the marketplace, wondering what he had done to set her off. He was a little bewildered at the turn of events: the droid had seen him, said something to upset the girl and now he was running away. Again. 

He bumped into displays and knocked over goods, he drew the ire of one merchant after another. His flight finally came to an end when, after turning several corners and thinking of himself in the clear, she appeared right in front of him and hit him with her staff. It collapsed him to the ground, on his back and out of breath, not caring much if he passed out. 

Rey held the staff over him, ready to strike again if necessary. “What’s your hurry, _thief_?” 

He was shocked by the accusation that it jolted his body to try and level itself up on his elbows, eyes meeting hers. “What? Thief?” 

BB-8 rolled up fast alongside him, extending out a telescoping arm, and transmitted a sizable electric shock. 

“ _Ow!_ Hey, what?” He stared at the droid, so lost and confused. 

“The jacket.” The girl begins and Finn goes back to staring up at her. “This droid says you stole it.” 

Badly in need in food and clean water, Finn was forced to settle for taking a deep breath. “I’ve had a pretty messed up day, alright? So I’d appreciate it if you stop accusing me of being a th— _Ow!_ ” He glared at the droid, who had zapped him a second time. “Stop it!” 

Rey was both unimpressed and unwilling to give the traveler the benefit of the doubt. “Where’d you get it? It belongs to his master.” 

It took Finn a moment to process the girl, the agitated droid, and lastly, the very jacket that he wore. He considered embroidering the news, or somehow softening it. In the end he made the hard decision to tell the truth. 

“It belonged to Poe Dameron. That was his name, right?” Finn shifts his eyes to the droid who exchanges a small look to Rey before turning his gaze. “He was captured by the First Order. I helped him escape, together we stole a TIE fighter and did some damage to the Order. We couldn’t flee because he insisted on finding you, but then we got shot down and our ship crashed.” He spoke dispassionately, evenly. “Poe didn’t make it.” A soft, almost mournful beep issues from the droid. “Look, I tried to help him. I’m sorry . . .”

The only difference in depression between an organic and a droid is the lack of flexible expression on the part of the latter. Saddened, moving slowly, BB-8 rolled off to one side. Rey sadly watched the little droid go, lowering her staff before turning her attention to Finn once again. Her hostility had given way to subdued admiration. 

“So you’re with the Resistance?” She studied intently, light brown eyes burning into him, and a hand still gripping the lethal staff. 

His mind was all over and this time, he chose to lie. “Obviously,” he told her, getting himself up. “Yes, I am.” He tugs on the ends of the jacket, shaking off grands of sand. “I’m with the Resistance, yeah.” Finn the whispers, “I am with the Resistance.” 

Rey was in awe, lips quirking and her eyes softened as she leaned on the staff. “I’ve never met a Resistance fighter before. Most visitors to this part of Jakku are traders and troublemakers.” 

It was difficult not to strut in place, but Finn managed it. “Well, this is what we look like. Some of us. Others look different.” A pause. “Now since you met one, what’s your opinion?” 

Rey pursed her lips. “May be great behind the guns of a TIE fighter, but your hand-to-hand skills need a lot of work.” 

Finn stifled a laugh, then stilled for a moment, noticing something fairly familiar about her appearance. Her eyes appeared brown but they had tints of green in them. Her face was round but pointy at the chin, giving her a heart shape. Her hair was in three tiny buns but it was hazy brown and as he could tell, short from a few loose pieces that just barely grazed her shoulders. 

Lastly, there was Rey’s clad outfit which was a mostly soft beige color that made her blend in with the Jakku sands, her arms wrapped in gauze but only up to her elbows. Her right wrist bearing a brown leather cuff that was similar to the one he’s seen Nova Hux wearing on the Finalizer for the last six years. Her tunic was draped with fabric, in the same fashion of how Nova’s was as well, her capris a smidge darker in comparison to the beige color. She wore dark brown calf boots, made for travelers, woven in Govath-wool.

Rey peered over her shoulder, gesturing in the direction of the mourning droid. “BB-8 says he’s on a secret mission.” The droid pivoted on its axis and beeps at her. “He says he has to get back to your base.” 

That much, Finn could understand. “Apparently, he has a map that leads to Luke Skywalker and everyone is after it.” 

A frown crosses her face before breaking into childlike wonderment. “Luke Skywalker?” She utters, her eyes with excitement. “I thought he was just a myth.” 

Finn gaped at the girl. Was she serious? Was Jakku really that much of a backwater world? 

A stream of beeps came from BB-8 and she turned instantly. “What?” She heads over and Finn follows after. 

Out in the distance, there were hulking forms of the two thugs who had attacked the girl and tried to steal the droid. They weren’t alone. The sun gleamed off the bright white armor of two Stormtroopers. One of the banged up hooligans was pointing in Finn’s direction. 

Grabbing Rey’s hand, he started backward into the maze of tents and temporary structures that formed the marketplace. 

“What are you doing?” She protested, but allowed herself to be pulled along. 

“BB-8, come on!” Finn yelled and unlike Rey, the droid needed no urging. 

A pair of blaster explosions obliterated the spot where they had been standing. A third struck a cleaning unit, which immediately began spewing smoke and corrosive fumes. Still holding tight onto Rey’s hand, Finn darted in and out among the flimsy structures, dodging outraged owners and piles of good alike. By now Rey was struggling with his grip. 

“Let go of me!” 

“We gotta move! 

She finally managed to free her fingers from his. “I know how to run without you holding my hand!” Skidding to a stop, she turns sharply. “This way! BB-8, stay close!” 

Another blast from behind just missed them. By now a general panic seized the denizens of the marketplace. Those who weren’t scattering in every direction were doing their best to shield their stock. Their efforts slowed but did not halt the pursuing Stormtroopers. 

Rey and her companions hunkered down inside a larger tent crammed with machine parts, crates of salvage, and other mechanical detritus. Peeping cautiously through a gap in the scrap pile behind which they’d taken cover, she muttered urgently to Finn. 

“They’re shooting at the both of us. Why are they shooting at _me_?” 

Finn knew exactly why and he felt terrible about it. But there was nothing he could do. Not right now. 

“Yeah. They saw you with me. You’re marked.” He replies, trying to scan their surroundings and searching desperately for something useful. 

Her lips tightened as she stared at him. “Well, thanks for _that_.”

Finn spun to her. “I’m not the one who chased you down with a stick.” He went back to rooting around. “Does anyone have blasters here?!” A trained Stormtrooper, he felt naked without a gun.

Behind them, BB-8 was a quivering slightly. Both antennas were fully extended and inclined slightly eastward. Rey frowned at the droid. “Are you okay?” 

Finn’s sensory filled and as BB-8 replies to the scavenger, he shushes him. He was listening to something that escaped the girl and BB-8 heard it too. Puzzled, Rey shifted her attention from one to the other and tried to hear what Finn was.

Instantly, her hand was taken back into his and pulled her after him. As before, when she tried to pull away, he maintained his grip. “Stop taking my hand!” 

The explosion ripped up the storage area, its contents, and the ground just behind the fleeing trio as one of the two diving TIE fighters Finn had heard coming in unleashed its weaponry in a low pass over the town. The concussion threw Rey hard to the ground. She came up fearful and spat out grit. The desert was full of dangers, and scavenging had its own risks she certainly knew from her sister, but she was used to those hazards. The realization that First Order TIE fighters might be sent to locate and eradicate a single Resistance fighter suggested that she was well and truly out of her depth. 

Rey began searching for Finn, finding him nearby and unconscious. Crawling over to him, getting a grip on his jacket as the white and orange droid joined her a moment later as she shook him awake.

Finn came to, blinking at his surroundings before he settled on her. Swallowing, he managed to gasp out, “Are you okay?” His hand gently resting on top of hers, thumb stroking against her tender skin and it sent a chill up the back of her spine. 

It struck her that for the first time in a long time, someone was asking that question. She gives a small nod. “Yeah.” She then captures his hand into hers, “Follow me.” Rey hoists him up onto his feet and off they run together with the droid following. 

Around them, Niima Outpost was in complete disarray. Explosions had torn tents and other buildings apart, scattering merchants, traders, scavengers, maintenance workers, and every other innocent bystander in a panicky search for cover. Staff in her right hand, Rey led her companions onto the sand scoured clearing that served as the town’s port. Looking back, Finn saw a pair of TIE fighters bank and turn. He had no doubt what they were looking for. 

“We can’t outrun them!” 

She let his hand go, pointing to a four engine craft toward which they were running. “We might in that quadjumper!” 

Finn shook his head. “I’m a gunner. We need a pilot!” 

“We’ve got one!” 

He gaped at her. “You?” While her youth and probable lack of experience troubled him, he knew he was in no position to argue. Anyway, what was the worst that could happen? That they would crash on takeoff instead of being pulverized by the pursuing ships of the First Order? 

They were dangerously far from the quadjumper and exposed on the bare landing area. Another craft loomed off of their right, nearby. 

“What about _tha_ _t_ ship?!” He motions to it. 

Rey scarcely glanced in the other vessel’s direction. “That one’s garbage!” 

Two TIE fighters roared past overhead and the gunners directed bursts of energy at the quadjumper, making Rey and Finn duck simultaneously from the ball of flame as it flung bits and pieces of itself in all directions. The detonation scorched the landing area. 

Halting to a stop, Rey’s reaction was immediate and realistic, nodding. “The garbage will do!” 

Changing direction, they raced for the other craft. Though it was partially covered by several protective sand tarps, the loading ramp was down.

Inside, Rey hit a wall panel and the ramp behind them rose to a close and the lock sealed. The vessel’s layout was straightforward and she found the cockpit instantly. Tossing her staff to one side and throwing herself into the pilot’s seat even as she was scrutinizing the instrumentation, Rey activated several controls. The console came to life. 

“Gunner’s position is down there!” She points. 

Finn headed for the area. “You ever fly this thing?!” 

As BB-8 looked on, she shouted back to him, “I’ve piloted all kinds of ships before but this one hasn’t flown in years!” 

“Great.” Finn slipped down and buckled himself into the gunner’s seat. To his shock, it responded to his weight by whipping to the left. Hastily he grabbed hold of the controls. 

“Woah.” Manipulating the intuitive controls allowed him to quickly take full control of the turret’s movements. “I can do this, I can do this.” If anything, he saw quickly, the track and fire controls were simpler and more primitive than those he had handled in the Special Forces TIE fighter. 

Rey rapidly ran through a standard pre-lift sequence, activated the full panoply of relevant instrumentation, and sat back. “I can do this, I can do this.” A low whine rose from the rear of the craft and she reached for the control that would bring all her hurried preparations to fruition. She took a deep breath and punched the control. 

At the stern of the old ship, long quiescent engines flared to brilliant life. Fully powered up now, it soared into the bright blue sky of Jakku but not efficiently. Shedding tarps as it rose, it spun and careened wildly, nearly crashing back to the ground. Rey managed to level off just in time to crash into and through the town’s entry archway: Niima Outpost’s sole example of architectural pride. 

Finding the craft surprisingly responsive to manual control, an increasingly optimistic Rey spun it around and accelerated, blasting away from the port. The pair of TIE fighters that had been shooting up the town instantly gave chase. 

Rey headed skyward and Finn yelled to her through the turret’s audio pickup. “Wait, stay low! Stay low!” 

“What?”

“Stay low! It confuses their tracking.” 

Rey nods, shooting a look back at the orange and white droid in the corridor. “BB-8, hold on!” He chirps in response. “I’m going low!” 

In an upward arc then dive, the ship went across the ground, clipping two crests of at least two dunes just as the two TIE fighters blasted by. Trying to match the high speed, both TIEs rounded back and shot. A blast rocking them, and Rey just barely managed to hang on tightly enough to avoid a looming sandstone mountain.

“What are you doing back there?” Rey shouts, maneuvering the ship out of the blaster fire. “Are you ever gonna fire back?!”

“I’m working on it! Are the shields up?” 

Rey glanced over, seeing the shield controls on the other side. “Not so easy without a copilot!” 

Below, Finn continued to struggle with the highly unresponsive, wildly swinging turret. “Try sitting in _this_ thing.” He mumbled. 

Stretching out her arm, Rey groaned and caused the ship to tip sharply as she tried to activate the shield instrumentation on the copilot’s side while maintaining some semblance of flight control. Fingers straining, she just managed to reach the shield controls and flicked them to life. 

The weapons systems finally came to life beneath Finn’s hands, the turret spinning and he watched as he locked on target, firing back at their pursuers. His blasts missed as another detonation rocked the ship, making his mouth tight. 

“We need cover!” 

“We’re about to get some!” Rey faces forwards, nodding. “I hope.” 

Keeping as close to the ground as possible, she rose and darted over rocks and dunes, grazing one upthrust ridge so closely that she took a chunk out of it. Unwilling to sacrifice distance to gain altitude in order to attack from above, the two TIEs stayed close. Rey headed for her favorite scavenging spot: the ship graveyard. She banked hard, low enough to cut a crease in the sand. 

Within the cylindrical corridor, the droid was beeping as he rolled up the walls, across the ceiling, and everywhere. Capable of comprehending the causes of nausea, BB-8 extends magnetic cables to brace himself as Rey coursed the ship through the maze of old Star Destroyers. 

Half wild, a burst of the craft’s guns crossed the flight path of one of the tailing TIE fighters and happened to catch it where its shields were momentarily unpowered. Part of the craft crumpled instantly, causing it to trail wreckage as its pilot strove to keep it aloft but crashed. 

“Nice shot!” Rey’s praise reached Finn from above. 

“I’m getting pretty good at this.” He smiled to himself. 

Trailed by the surviving fighter, the ship slalomed through the colossal debris field. Sparks flew as she grazed the towering metal walls and fallen station sections, but the hull of the borrowed craft held together. As he was banged around in the gunner’s seat, Finn tried to keep track of their remaining pursuer while peering out at a trash paved surface that frequently came entirely too near to. 

The next blast that erupted in his vicinity also came too close. The concussion set the turret spinning. When it finally stabilized, its rattled occupant was horrified to find that it had been jammed. 

“Uh, the cannon’s stuck in forward position, I can’t move it!” He could not rotate it in any direction. “You gotta lose ‘em!” 

Rey furrowed her brows, seeing the bulk of a downed Super Star Destroyer; its mass inconceivably large where it rested on the sand. An idea forming in her head. 

“Get ready!” She yelled at him. 

Finn nods energetically. “Okay!” Then he frowned, curious. “Ready for what?” 

Pulling on the controls, Rey drove the ship downward and into the gaping breach that was the center of a ruined engine thruster. She hopes this maneuver might dissuade their remaining pursuer, she was wrong. Unwilling to give ground, the pilot of the TIE took his craft in after. 

“Are we _really_ doing this?” Finn gasped, eyes wide as the fighter spit lasers, Rey weaving through one narrow passage after another, their ship’s side flaring out sparks from grazes. 

Light appeared at the far end of the service corridor down which Rey was flying. Another blast from the unrelenting TIE fighter pilot nearly sent their craft crashing into the corridor’s ceiling, and she only managed to correct at the last instant. There was no time to check readouts to see if any critical part of the stolen ship had been damaged, all that mattered in the moment was that they were still airborne and the controls continued to respond to her touch. 

She whipped the freighter off to the right, flying into bright sunlight and once they emerged from the decaying guts of the old Super Star Destroyer, Rey cut the power completely which swung the ship upside down. 

Facing directly back toward the immense relic, Finn found the surviving TIE fighter in his sights, and he reacted accordingly. He fired twice and hit. 

A jubilant Rey turned the power back on, making a hard turn away from the hulk of the Super Star Destroyer as the TIE burst into flames, lost speed and altitude, and crashed to the surface of the wake. She accelerated into the clouds and the sun-blasted surface of Jakku soon fell astern, giving way to the cold yet comforting blackness of space. 

Feeling confident, she entrusted the control of placing the ship on autopilot then slipped out of the seat, hurrying out of the cockpit just as BB-8 unhinged himself and steadied. Finn was already in the lounge, trying to regulate his breathing while coming down from an adrenaline high. Turning to her as she slowed, he gave her a wide, disarming grin. 

“Nice shooting.” Rey starts first with her own lively smile. 

“Now _that_ was some flying!.”

“Thanks.” 

“How’d you do that?”

“I don’t know!”

“No one trained you?” He was flabbergasted.

“Inside my AT-AT home, there was a computer display of an BTL-A4 Y-wing starfighter that I used to run flight simulations with.” She informed him. “And I’ve flown some ships before but I’ve never left the planet.” 

The two both began pacing around each other in a glee, BB-8 watching the two young adults as they did so. 

“That was amazing.” Finn choursed. 

“Your last shot was dead on!” She laughs. 

“You set me up for it!” He happily responds, giving her some credit where it was due.

“You got him with one blast!” 

His smile gave way to a touch of self satisfaction. “It _was_ a pretty good, wasn’t it?”

“It was perfect.” Rey tells him. 

It was silent in the lounge for a long moment, the two of them just standing in front of each other before he murmured, “Why are we . . .”

“Staring at each other? I don’t know . . .”

It grew silent again and Finn stared at her while she stared at him. He had dark brown eyes, dark skin, short black hair, age twenty-three; quite striking and admirable. He was a stranger and yet, it felt personal between them, like visiting a place that you once swore you’ve seen in a dream. It gave Rey a sense of ease because she was no longer alone. 

Beeps sound from BB-8, knocking her loose from her trance and she turns, kneeling before the astromech. “You’re okay. He’s with the Resistance.” She indicates to Finn with the tilt of her head and the droid regards the boy. “He’s going to get you home. We _both_ will.” 

Finn’s heart sped up at her words, watching as she slowly stood and softly gazed to him again. “I don’t know your name.” Her voice was light and it ached him. 

Startled, he realized that on that score he was ignorant. “Finn. What’s yours?” 

“I’m Rey.” The time all the trace of the hardened, desert dwelling scavenger melted away. She held a sweet smile, he found himself thinking. Warm. He repeated the name, enjoying the way his lips parted as he murmured the single syllable. 

“Rey . . .” 

He would have said much more, but the ship interrupted. On the far side of the lounge, a large section of decking broke loose, shot upward, and banked off the ceiling before coming to rest on the floor. Hissing vapor was starting to fill the room and Rey didn’t hesitate, racing over to the grating floor and Finn joined her. He suspected the venting gas had to be nontoxic, otherwise they would have been laying on the unconscious—or dying. Rey moved the grating, sitting down and slid both of her legs into the opening. 

Finn stared at her. “You’re going down there?” 

They locked eyes. “Only way to know what the problem is is to go down there. Unless you have a better suggestion?” 

He gave a reluctant shake of his head. “I’m good at blowing things up, not putting them together. Is there anything that I can do?” 

“While I’m down there, don’t touch anything. And if you hear a lot of screaming and cursing, stand by.” 

He considered. “You’ll want me to pull you up?”

Rey gave him a smile. “Only if there’s just screaming and no cursing.” With that, she slipped over the edge and down inside. Her slender form quickly obscured by the roaring vapor. 

The great sweep of the external observation portal on the Finalizer allowed anyone standing before it an uninterrupted view of the vastness of space. Suns and nebulae, mysteries and conundrums, all were laid out before the viewer. It was a view intended to awe and inspire, hence the presence of the portal where visual pickups and monitors would have sufficed just as well. 

Nova stood before it, her eyes closed as she felt herself creating and building up a mental block in her head, around her brain, while Kylo regarded her in silence. He had been trained in contemplation, was skilled in deliberation, could remain mediating just so for hours at a time but the map had him losing patience. It’s why he escorted Nova to the portal, why he stood there now and was teaching her how to block her thoughts from someone who could force themselves into her own mind. 

“Why am I doing this again?” Nova humbly spoke over her shoulder, eyes still closed as she focused. 

“The Jedi in the light will rise.” He replies stoically, effortlessly. “They can probe your mind and learn valuable information. You have to learn to protect it.” 

“I thought you killed all the Jedi so no one could rise above you at Snoke’s order?” 

Kylo ignores her remark, stepping up towards her and looking over her, knowing that she felt him drawing near and spectating her form. 

“You believe that you’re well concentrated?” 

Nova peeks her right eye open, gazing in his direction and feels his intensity. It seemed like, to her at least, that her understanding of him grew feverishly in a short amount of time. She pinpointed it to being at the moment that she finally used the Force to draw the droid to her, and then some. She had anger, fears, but she always kept it inside of herself, allowing it to swell overtime like how Kylo told her. It was her weakness and from that, he showed her that she can draw strength. A pathway to the dark side. 

“I believe that I can take you.” Her confidence was overbearing, a sly grin appearing on her face as she shifts on her feet to give some distance between them. 

“I’m going to enter your mind forcibly,” Kylo felt compelled to tell her, explaining what he was about to do. “I’m going to search for something that you don’t want me to know, and you’re going to try to stop me.” 

She nods in understanding. 

“I won’t be easy. Won’t go gentle either. This is a test of your strength.” 

“I can handle it.” 

“Good.” 

Without warning, Kylo’s gloved hand reached out for her and she instantly felt pressure building up in her head. It felt like a wrecking ball was bashing at her mental block, hammering away to get into the secrets of her mind that she locked inside. Physically, she stumbled back from the mental fight but regained her footing, holding her ground to the best of her potential. He was worming his way around, galvanized by her excellence and he pushed harder, finding a loose paneling in her defense. Mercilessly, Kylo enters. 

“You _really_ want to find your sister, believing that she could still be living on Jakku but it scares you.” He authoritatively remarks, watching Nova strain and clenching her jaw tight while she tries to drive him out. How Kylo appreciated her efforts. “Too inclined to reunite but too afraid to return.” 

Nova grunts with attempt, desperately trying to get rid of him and to rage on a mental warfare. He was entering her battle field with heavy armor and troops, she needed to defend her territory like how he told her. It was going to be a trial, there was no doubt about it, but something about him stating her fear out loud made her even more disposed to counteract his altercation. 

“So many possibilities you’ve conjured up: If she’s alive and on Jakku, she may blame you for not coming back sooner. If she’s dead and buried on Jakku, you’ll never forgive yourself. If she’s not there and your parents did come back, you’ll never see either one of them again. If she’s not there, but is somewhere else alive, you’ll never stop scrabbling.” 

Hand inching closer to her face, Nova kept on trying to resist the probing though the unpleasantness was prodigious. She let a ginger grunt escape her throat, it was maddening and she felt herself wanting to take him on.

“You _hate_ Jakku, you loathe it.” He baited her. “On a recurring basis you had to deal with the hostile and hungry creatures of the wastelands, and the thieves. It was eat or be eaten—fight or flight. Just the thought of returning to the desert planet _terrifies_ you.” 

His eyes locked onto hers and Nova never looked away, trying not to flinch, not to blink. Kylo shifted his perception towards something of interest, _worth_ investigating, and he seeked to identify it, to analyze it, to—

The barrier he encountered stopped him. Kylo pushed, hard, with his mind and the probe went nowhere. 

Nova had finally realized to play at his game, instead of counteracting, she needed to counterbalance. To share what he was giving to her. She had turned the trick on his head, taking steps to him now and he placed his left foot back to secure himself. She scanned his mind, seeing his memories and experiencing the feelings attached to them, all extraordinary and fascinating, and some rather heartbreaking and cruel. 

Kylo blinks behind his mask, finding himself scowling. He wanted this to happen but not like this; that was the basic train of thought nowadays. She was proving her strength and he was conflicted about whether or not to be impressed or even intimidated by her. His cockiness suddenly engaged, setting his heart back on that one thing that deeply engrossed him. 

“You know I can take whatever I want.” Pompous he was being, digging directly back to her cerebrum. 

“What if you’re not allowed to have it?” Nova challenged and his brain lit up like a fire, body turning white hot. She wasn’t wavering, perturbed, but still and focused; connected in the Force. “Then what do you do?” 

Kylo’s breath is drawn away from him and he retracts, pulling away and her gaze follows him. Her eyes were the same but something else had changed—something between _them_ , shown in her stare and in his posture. 

An approaching Lieutenant Mitaka saw the tall, caped figure and the short, cloth and clad prodigy silhouetted against the spray of stars. He didn’t look forward to having to make the report but it was his responsibility and had no other choice in the matter. It wasn’t his first time making a delivery of bad news to a superior officer but Kylo Ren was different. Not precisely a super officer but he was something else. Mitaka’s only form of comfort in the moment was Nova Hux being there in the room with the two men. 

He watched as Nova broke her stare from Kylo to look at him. “Mitaka, something to report?” Her tenderness was accepting and polite, and made him feel at ease. 

“Or have you come, like ourselves, to marvel at the view?” Kylo shifts on his feet, staring back out of the viewport. 

“Sir?” Mitaka gulped, kinda concerned by the question. 

A gloved hand rose to take in the sweep of light and energy before them. “Look at it, Lieutenant. So much beauty among so much turmoil.” Out of the corner of his eye, and mask, Kylo peers to Nova. “In a way, we are but an infinitely smaller reflection of the same conflict.” 

Standing at attention, Mitaka took off his hat and began to present his brief report. “Sir. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to acquire the droid on Jakku.” 

Kylo turned part way, only looking over his shoulder and Mitaka preferred it the other way with only Nova facing him. He always found it unsettling to have to gaze at the metal mask beneath the cowl. 

“Was it not at the Niima Outpost?” Nova asks and Mitaka gladly peers to her face, sweat producing on his upper lip from being anxious. 

“Yes, m’am, it was. But it escaped capture aboard a stolen Corellian YT model freighter.” 

Atypically, a touch of uncertainty colored Kylo’s response as he spoke. “The droid . . . _stole_ a freighter?” 

“Not exactly, sir. It had help.” Mitaka went back to facing the metal mask, Kylo now completely facing him. “We have no confirmation but we believe FN-2187 may have helped in the escape.” 

Kylo reached for the lightsaber as his belt, activating the weapon, and raised the intense red blades high. Expecting to be the target, Mitaka closed his eyes and waited. Kylo then aimed for a nearby console, taking swings at the walls, at the deck, rending and ripping, slashing long lines of bleeding metal into the very fabric of the ship. His rage was terrible to behold, seeing sparks raining down everywhere and Mitaka was shocked to see Nova completely unphased while he strove to remain perfectly still, to control his breathing and become invisible as possible. 

Shutting off the lightsaber, the taller man huffed heavily and then straightened out, glancing back over his shoulder. He spoke calmly, as if his mad, destructive rampage had been nothing more than a brief interlude: an illusion. 

“Anything else?” 

At least the worst of the report had been delivered. Mitaka knew and he was still alive. He allowed himself to relax ever so slightly. 

“The two were accompanied by _a_ girl.” 

Nova’s head snapped in his direction, an unfathomable amount of feelings washing over her all at once: hope, grief, scared, and unsure. Could it be _her_ little sister? The thought had her heart pound fast and her throat to tense. 

Reaching out, a black gloved hand clutched the startled lieutenant and pulled him violently by the throat, his body flying across the floor and into Kylo’s remorseless grasp. The metallic visage was now close, closer than Mitaka had ever been to it. As the officer struggled to breathe, Kylo Ren’s voice took on a timbre lower and more menacing than any the lieutenant had ever heard. Including Nova. 

“What _girl_?”


	4. Sentiment

Kneeling by the opening in the deck, Finn struggled to peer down into the depths. The constant hiss of escaping vapor made it difficult to hear or see anything. He badly wanted to shut off the blaring emergency alarm but didn’t dare to move while Rey was still below and out of sight. 

A head popped up, surrounded by vapor. Perspiration streamed from Rey’s face. “It’s the motivator. Grab me a Harris wrench.” She pointed behind him. “Check in there.” 

Turning, he unlatched the storage container she had pointed to and began rummaging through the contents. As a Stormtrooper, he was trained to deal with certain emergencies. These included but were not limited to troubles of a mechanical nature, such as low to do basic repairs on a speeder and other ground transport vehicles. So he knew what he was looking for. He only hoped he could find it. 

“How bad is it?” He asks, silently cursing the unknown owner of the ship as he continued to sort through the container’s jumbled contents. 

“If we wanna live,” Rey’s voice echoed from below, “not good!” 

The ship gave a nasty jolt, reminding Finn of their rapidly degrading situation. “Look, they’re out hunting for us now. We gotta get out of this system now.” 

Rey extends back up, glancing at the nearby droid. “BB-8 said the location of the Resistance base is ‘need to know’. If I’m taking you back, I need to know!”

“This?” Finn finds the wrench, tossing it to her and Rey grabs it in midair. She disappeared below, once more leaving Finn and the droid along in the shuddering lounge. Busy as she was attempting to make the necessary repairs, he felt he could try to stall her. But that would only postpone the inevitable reckoning. Or he could ignore the guery. Same inescapable result. 

He could lie, blurt out the name of any system, any realistic destination. Anything to get away from this world and the attention of the Order. A quick sideways glance showed that the droid was watching him. That wouldn’t work, either, since if nothing else BB-8 would contradict him. The only reply that would suffice was the true one, and he didn’t have it. He edged the droid towards him. 

Finn speaks quietly. “You gotta tell us where your base is.”

The droid emitted a flurry of rapid, soft beeps. 

“I don’t speak that.” He then lowers his voice even more. “Between us, I’m not with the Resistance, okay? I’m a regular Trooper who’s gone rogue. By my actions, I’ve renounced my oath. In the eyes of the Order, that makes me something worse than a Resistance fighter. I’m just trying to get away from the First Order, but you tell us where your base is, I’ll get you there first.” He gazes straight into the droid’s visual pickup. “Deal?” 

BB-8 cocked his head to one side and said nothing. Finn felt no shame in pleading. 

“Droid, _please_!” 

He held the stare until a weary Rey appeared again. “Pilex driver, hurry.” As Finn returned to the storage container and began searching anew, she took the moment to question him once more. “So, where’s your base?”

Finn peers over his shoulder, murmuring tersely to the watching droid. “Go on, BB-8. Tell her.” 

Nothing from the droid. Not a sound, not a hum. He just kept on shifting his stare back and forth between the two humans. Finn was on the verge of despair, mouthing a “please” then the spherical mechanical finally uttered a short sequence of beeps. Rey looked surprised. 

“The Ileenium system?” 

Locating the requisite tool, a relieved Finn passed it to her. “Yeah, the Ileenium system.” Where the hell was the Ileenium system? He wondered, Rey vanishing again. “That’s the one. Get us there as fast as you can.” 

As soon as she was out of sight, the grateful Finn gave BB-8 a thumbs up. The droid responded by shooting out a welding torch in imitation of the human’s gesture. 

“I’ll drop the two of you at Ponemah Terminal.” She pops back up, her attitude tense. “I need the bonding tape, hurry!” 

For the third time, Finn found himself plowing through the disorganized tool container. “What about you?” He peeks a look at her. 

Rey looked at him like he just asked her the most ridiculous question ever. “I gotta get back to Jakku.” 

“ _Back_ to Jak—” Finn picks up what looked like a sealer, turning and points it at her as he spoke. “Why does everyone wanna go back to Jakku? That place is just sand and junk and rocks and sand and quicksand and sand.”

Rey eyed the tape in his hands, shaking her head. “No, It’s not that one.” She points and with doing his best, Finn follows her directions, hefting another instrument. “No, no. The one I’m pointing to.”

Finn then kept on picking up ones at random, his exasperation nearly overcoming his fear. 

“No. No! No! If we don’t patch it up the propulsion tank will overflow and flood the ship with poisonous gas!” 

Sliding up alongside Finn, BB-8 used his head to indicate the appropriate sealer. Hopeful, Finn picked it up. “This?” 

Rey replied with an empathetic “Yes!” He tossed it to her, watched as she caught it easily and once more disappeared below. Leaving the tool container, he returned to the opening in the deck and called down to her. 

“Hey, Rey, you’re a pilot. You can fly anywhere. Why go back? You got a family? You got a boyfriend? A cute boyfriend?” 

As the flow of vapor finally slowed and then ceased, so did the alarms. Rey’s reappearance coincided with the return of comparative silence within the lounge. She broke it immediately. 

“None of your business, that’s why.” 

The sudden dimming of lights put a halt to any incipient argument. They plunged into the dark with red emergency lights turning on and casting them in its glow.

“That can’t be good,” Finn murmured. 

“No, it can’t be,” Rey agreed as she climbed out of the opening. Together, they headed back toward the cockpit. 

This time Finn settled into the copilot’s seat. Looking back at him was a dead console. One didn’t have to be trained as a pilot to infer that a dead console did not bode well for future voyaging. 

Without much hope, Rey tried several controls before sitting back, defeated. Someone’s locked onto us. All out controls are overridden.”

From above, there was a dull clank and the two peered up, wondering what it was. Finn gets up in the seat, placing his hand on Rey’s head to steady himself and she tells him to get off of her, shoving his arm off. He gazed out, the ship above them was gigantic, an enormous bulky freighter. 

“See anything?” She calls up to them. 

“Oh no.” There was no need for elaboration, she would see for herself all too soon. 

The cargo bay door was open, and against the open hanger, their stolen vessel appeared no bigger than an escape capsule. It’s instrumentation frozen, its engines powerless, and its weapons systems dead, the paralyzed ship was drawn inexorably upward into the cavernous opening. 

Finn got down, slumping into the copilot’s seat defeated, his gaze fixed forwards. “It’s the First Order.” 

In spite of what he had done, in spite of his own personal rebellion nearly succeeding, it had all come to nothing. Useless. Poe Dameron was dead. Soon her, and this poor girl, would join the Resistance pilot. Whatever map or other information BB-8 held would be forcibly extracted from the little droid, after which his memory would be wiped, his AI circuits removed, and the remainder probably recycled as crap. Finn grunted softly. That was more than her and Rey could hope for. All he could do for her now was apologize for having inveigled her into a mess that was a consequence of his own making. He might rely that truth to the individuals presiding over his disposition. Plead on her behalf But as an ex-First Order Stormtrooper he knew that his words, however eloquent, would buy Rey only as much as it took for him to speak them. 

He also knew that if given the chance he would have done the same all over again. The only thing that separated him from his comrades, the only thing that defined him as an individual, was his unshakable sense of what was right. That much, at least, he could take with him. 

“What do we do?” Rey was saying beside them. She kept trying the controls, to no avail. “There must be something.” 

Abruptly, Finn got an idea. A sense. He turned to her. “You said poisonous gas.”

She eyed him uncertainly “Yeah, but I fixed that.” 

“Can you unfix it?” His tone was deliberate, stare unflinching. 

It took her a moment to realize what he was trying to imply. When understanding sunk in, her expression brightened. The both of them leaving the cockpit and heading back towards the lounge, BB-8 trailing close behind. 

They grabbed for emergency masks from the storage stations, designed to protect them against the loss of atmosphere. They most emphatically were not intended to substitute for the environment suits that were employed during extravehicular excursions. But for the plan Finn had in mind, they should do just fine. Working together, they succeeded in wrestling the droid down into the service area below deck which caused Finn to fall and BB-8 land on him to soften the blow. Once all three had managed the short descent, Rey began working hard to undo the results of her earlier repair. 

“Do you think this will work on the Stormtroopers?” She wondered as she manipulated the tools she had used previously and left behind. 

“Yeah. Standard issue helmets filter out smoke, not toxins. To cope with the latter, a Trooper needs to engage one of the several special filters, depending on the specific contaminant. Identification is the province of one or two squad leaders.”

Rey was plainly impressed with him as he lifted the grating, peeking out and staring at the door to hear the ramp lowering. Metal clanking of footsteps drew closer. 

“Hurry.” He whispers. 

“I’m hurrying.” Rey’s fingers worked nimbly at the seal she had applied. 

Finn ducked back down, putting on his mask and Rey put on hers as she began making some progress. 

“ _Really_ hurry.” He utters, voice muffled by the mask covering his mouth and nose. 

“I put this seal in place to keep us alive, not counter a hostile boarding,” she hissed back as her hands flew. “I made it to last. Don’t expect me to take it apart in a couple of minutes. Does this look like I’m taking my—” 

“Chewie, we’re home,” they heard a man say and Rey fumbles with a wire, the covering in the deck above them being ripped away. They all stumble, bodies frozen in fear and found themselves gazing up at . . . not a Stormtrooper. 

The man holding the blaster on them was not wearing a helmet; not even a protective visor. There was nothing to interfere with his angry expression. It filled a face scarred with know how, aged by experience, and world weary. Characteristic of someone who had set foot on dozens of worlds. His eyes were hazel, his grey hair tousled, and he wore the look of a man who had seen too much, too soon, and been forced to deal with idiots all too often. His evident age notwithstanding, the hand holding the blaster neither shook nor wavered. 

Eyeing him, Finn felt like he knew the man. A strange familiarity. 

“Where are the others?” While there might be cracks in the man’s countenance, there were none in his voice. “Where’s your pilot?” 

“I’m the pilot.” 

Unblinking eyes regarded her with obvious disbelief. “You?”

Another shape was above, next to their inquisitor. A Wookie. A battery of sounds issued from between thick lips, something halfway between a moan and a question. 

“No, it’s true,” Rey responded. “We’re the only ones on board.” 

Finn furrowed his brows, eyes lingering over the creature. “You can understand that thing?” 

Beating Rey to a response, the man holding the blaster on them warned, “And ‘that thing’ can understand you too, so watch it.” Still aiming the weapon in their direction, he stepped back. “Come on out of there.” 

They removed their masks, Rey getting out first and she grabbed for BB-8. When Finn emerged from the service corridor, he found himself looking up at the man’s companion. And up, and up. 

Their captor gestured ever so slightly with the muzzle of his blaster. “Where’d you get this ship?” 

“Niima Outpost.” Rey states. 

Dropping his lower jaw to signify his disbelief, he stared back at her. “Jakku? That junkyard?” 

“Thank you!” Finn said, shooting Rey a look that was a pure I-told-you-so. “Junkyard.”

Looking away from them for the first time since they had come out from below, the man addressed his towering cohort. “Told ya we should’ve double-checked the Western Reaches.” 

The Wookie growls in a soft talk and the man turns back to Rey. She was trying to make sense of the mismatched pair standing before her. 

“Who had it?” He continued. “Ducain?”

“I stole it from Unkar Plutt.” Rey said truthfully. “He stole it from the Irving Boys, who stole it from Ducain.”

“Who stole it from me!” 

In addition to anger, their captor’s voice was filled with righteous indignation. To Rey, it sounded a little forced. Definitely this man was not now and never had been a Stormtooper of anything like it. What he had been, maybe, was someone not unlike herself. A bit of a businessman, a bit of a con man, a bit of an adventurer. And since he was older, it was only reasonable to assume that he had been a bit more of all of those things than herself. 

“Well, you tell him that Han Solo just stole back the Millennium Falcon for good.” 

Whirling, he holstered his blaster and headed for the cockpit. Either he was satisfied with her answers, Rey thought, or else he didn’t care.

Rey took a few steps forwards, in complete awe over the living legend that she heard many stories of from scavengers on Jakku. Han Solo. A legend of Rebellion against the Empire. Trader, pirate, con man, and fighter extraordinaire.

“ _This_ is the Millennium Falcon? _You’re_ Han Solo?” She said with wide eyes.

Han stares at her with a sly grin that was part amused, part knowing, and maybe a little bitter. “I used to be.” 

Finn found himself equally dumbstruck. Here right before him, close enough to touch, was a celebrated figure from the ancient past. And the looming mass of wailing hirsuteness who was his companion . . . what was his name? He searched his memory and what he knew of history. 

Chewbacca. Chewbacca the Wookie. And Han Solo. _The_ Han Solo. Or else a pair of extremely accomplished liars. Thought if what he could remember was accurate, accomplished lair would fit _the_ Han Solo as well as anything else. 

“Han Solo,” he queried. “The rebellion general?” 

“No,” Rey broke in, half accusingly, half admiringly. “The smuggler!” 

If he hadn't been bemused before, Finn was now thoroughly bewildered. Without thinking, he addressed the shaggy mass lumbering next to him. “Wasn’t he a war hero?” 

Though the Wookie uttered something guttural and incomprehensible, Finn managed to catch the gist of it. “Yeah, I guess, kinda.” Of course, the giant could equally have been confirming what Rey had said. 

Rey could not keep from looking around, seeing the ship she had stolen in an entirely new light. No wonder it was crammed full of modifications! No wonder it had demonstrated unusual speed and maneuverability. 

She could not keep the wonder out of her voice. “This is the ship that made the Kessel Run in fourteen parsecs!”

“Twelve!” Han corrects, entering the cockpit and scanning the console. A wave of something washed over the Millennium Falcon’s rightful owner. Not nostalgia. That wasn’t part of his makeup. But there was definitely something. Possibly remembrance of old friendships, or adventures long past, or exotic destinations once visited. Moving forward, he let his hands rest on the main console as his eyes continued to rove from instrument to monitor to . . . 

What the devil was that?

To his right, he touched a couple of contacts and was rewarded with a readout that was anything but pleasing. 

“Hey!” He heads back out to the lounge. “Some moof-milker put a compressor on the ignition line.” 

“Unkar Plutt did.” Rey informs Han. “I thought it was a mistake, too. Puts too much stress on the hyperdrive.” 

“. . . Stress on the hyperdrive.” Han echoed, reaching the same conclusion at the same time. For an instant he looked puzzled and just a tad curious. Who was this girl, who spoke so knowingly? 

His curiosity didn’t last long. Too many other matters of greater consequence were on his mind. 

“Chewie, throw them in a pod. We’ll drop them at the nearest inhabited planet.” 

“Wait, no!” Rey moved toward him. A stern stare halted her in her tracks but could not silence her. “We need your help.” 

“His brow wrinkled. “My help?” 

Holding her ground, she indicated to the silently watching BB-8. “This droid has to get to the Resistance base as soon as possible.” 

Han started walking through the corridor and this time, Finn spoke up. “He’s carrying a map to Luke Skywalker.”

The strangest look came over the Falcon’s owner. All the hardness seemed to drain out of him and for a moment, he was no longer on the ship. He was not even in Jakku’s system, but somewhere else. Unable to stand the lack of response, Finn presses on.

“You _are_ the Han Solo that fought with the Rebellion. You knew him.”

Han meets the two younger adults eyes, his strong voice softens. “Yeah. I knew him. I knew Luke.” 

A distinct metallic thunk reached them inside the Falcon. Snapping back to the present, Han was all business again as he scowled in the direction of the ship’s loading ramp. 

“Don’t tell me a Rathtar’s gotten loose.” Without another word he vacated the corridor, hurrying back the way he’d come. Everyone else followed, with BB-8 bringing up the rear. Neither Rey nor the droid had the slightest idea what was going on. Finn did, and wished he didn’t. He had to struggle to keep up with Han, who moved with surprising speed.

“Did you just say Rathtars?” 

Ignoring him, Han exited the Falcon onto one of the service decks of the enormous freighter and headed directly for the nearest control panel. 

“Hey! You’re not hauling Rathtars on this freighter, are you?” 

Han spoke as he made it to the control panel. “I’m hauling Rathtars.” 

Above the console, a host of images revealed both the interior and exterior of the hulking freighter. One of the lattered revealed the approach of a nonmilitary transport. The sleek craft nudged its way along the hull, like a parasite hunting for an easy to a potential host. Not recognizing the ship’s design, Finn focused on Han instead. The pilot’s expression showed that he was not pleased. 

“You recognize the arrival,” Finn said. It was not a question. 

“It’s the Guavian Death Gang.” He looked over at Chewie, who moaned confirmation. “They must’ve tracked us from Nantoon.”

They were not hurrying down a passageway that had, like the rest of the lumbering freighter, seen better times. Splashes of paint and old stain substituted for more efficient indicators, while unidentifiable creates and piles of gear were piled haphazardly in corners and against the walls.

“What’s a Rathtar?” Rey asks Finn. 

It was Han who replied first. “They’re big and dangerous.” 

Finn moved closer to Rey. “Ever heard of the Trillia Massacre?” 

She shook her head. “No.” 

“Good,” he replies. And that was the extent of his explanation, briefly referencing an incident so vile and depraved that he wished to only assure himself she knew nothing about it. 

“I got three going to King Prana.” 

“Three?” Finn could hardly believe what he was hearing. “How’d you get them on board?” 

Han glances over his shoulder at him. I used to have a bigger crew.” 

Striding effortlessly, Chewbacca groaned assent and BB-8 beeped a question to which the Wookie readily replied. 

Finn was wondering why Han called a halt in the middle of an unremarkable section of the corridor until their guide activated a hidden wall control and a hatch opened in the floor. He gestured for them to descend. 

“Get below and stay there until I say so. And don’t even think about trying to take the Falcon.” 

Rey points to the droid. “What about BB-8?” 

“He stays with me until I get rid of the gang then you can have him back and be on your way.”

Finn felt a little chill. “What about the Rathtars? Where are you keeping them?” 

A thunderous wham sounded behind him and Rey, both jumping and turning to see an orange orb against the triple reinforced port window.

“There’s one.” Han comments as Finn begins to head in the sub-deck accessway.

“What are you gonna do?” Rey beckons from the hatch’s opening before slipping in. 

Han shrugged. “Same thing I always do. Talk my way out of it.” At this his towering companion uttered a series of short, sharp moans and grunts. Han points up at him. “Yes I do. Every time.” 

Finn and Rey were alone but Finn kept on reminding himself uneasily, for the ravening monstrosity on the other side of the near wall. Thankfully, it had ceased its fruitless attempts to break free. 

The two heard a circular portal open at the end of a corridor and they crawled over, peering up through the grating. Six figures, all humanoid. Five of them were helmeted with red uniforms, a security team while one was in a black suit. He was confident, experienced, and, at the moment, all but bursting with barely controlled anger. 

Rey was anxious. “They have blasters.” 

“All of them.” Finn nods. 

“Han Solo,” came the clipped voice of the gang leader, “you are a dead man.” 

“Bala-Tik. What’s the problem?” They heard Han call. 

“The problem is we loaned you fifty thousand for this job. I heard you also borrowed fifty thousand from Kanjiklub.”

“You know you can’t trust those little freaks! How long’ve we known each other?” Han interjects. 

The gang leader was not about to be charmed by smooth chatter. “The question is how much longer _will_ we know each other.” Bala-Tik remarks. “Not long.” He then answers. “We want our money back now.”

Han continued the dialogue.“Ya think hunting Rathtars is cheap? I spent that money.”

“Kanjiklub wants their investment back, too.”

“I never made a deal with Kanjiklub!” Han’s reply was replete with frustration.

Bala-Tik gave an indifferent shrug. “Tell that to Kanjiklub.” He nods, looking past Han and Chewbacca. 

At the other end of the same corridor, another portal opened and Rey and Finn turned their heads as they listened. 

“Tasu Leech! Good to see you!” Han greets and Finn could sense him wearing a smile as wide as it was bogus as he did. 

Alien dialect of “Wrong again, Solo. It’s over for you” was spoken and Rey began moving hurriedly in the crawlspace to get a look of them. Finn followed her lead. 

Kanjiklub were a clutch of armed intruders and their leader was long haired, grim faced, and thoroughly disreputable individual wanted on at least six worlds. He raised his weapon, aiming it down the corridor. 

“Boys, you’re both gonna get what I promised.” Han says above. “Have I ever not delivered for you before?” 

“Yeah.” Bala-Tik announces. 

“Twice!” Tasu Leech adds. 

Han went quiet. Finn, on his hands and knees, headed back to where him and Rey were at the beginning of this and knew that the man was buying himself time. He ganders upwards, seeing Chewbacca nodding at Leech’s words in a discreet manner as Han frowned. 

“What was the second time?”

“Your game is old.” Bala-Tik tells him. “There’s no one in the galaxy left for you to swindle.”

“Nowhere left for you to hide.” Tasu adds. 

“That BB unit,” Bala-Tik’s voice rose once again. “The First Order is looking for one just like it. And two fugitives.” 

Rey and Finn both jolt to a stop in their crawls, exchanging looks at one another. Without words, they both shared the exact same thought and fear iced up their backs, making them receive goosebumps. 

“First I’ve heard of it.” Han tells them as Leech ordered his second in command Razoo Qin-Fee to search the freighter. 

Rey spotted a Junction Box Area, rushing towards it and Finn is right next to her as she points to the fuses. “If we close the blast doors in that corridor, we can trap both gangs!” She mutters. 

“Close the blast doors from here?” Finn considers. 

“Resetting the fuses should do it.” She nods, getting excited. 

Enthusiastically, he nods. “Let’s do it. What’ve we got to lose?” 

Rey began grabbing the intricate flowtronics and set to work. Tools would have made it easier, but the system was designed to be set and reset as easily as possible. Finn lent a hand. The lights are turned out, bathing them all in red emergency lights, Rey smiles optimistically and Finn looks hopeful too. 

She leaned back from the now modified flow panel, and slowly lost her grin. “Oh no.” 

Finn looked from the panel to her, his smile dwindling at the look of her slightly pale face. “‘Oh no’, what?” He gently touches her hand, an electrifying buzz coursing through his arm as he does. 

“Wrong fuses.”

Finn stared at her, one thought in his mind, one word on his lips but before he could speak it, they heard the growls and blaster fire and screams from above. 

As misdirected blasts smashed into the crawlspace around them, tearing streaks in the metal and threatening to make it impossible to move across the overheating floor, Finn and Rey found themselves crawling for their lives. 

“This was a mistake!” Finn howled, ignoring the pain in his hands and knees. 

“ _Huge!_ ” Rey agreed. 

They roamed to a new section of the ship that was reasonably quiet, finding a hatch and a tentative Finn flipped it open, looking down the dimmed corridor of red and yellow emergency lights. Nothing. Turning, he looked in the other direction. Nothing. No evilly chattering Kanjiklub members, no heavily armed Guavians, and most important, no slobbering multi limbed Rathtars. He climbed out, giving Rey a hand up, and they began running. 

He was thankful but hardly surprised to see how easily she kept up with him as they reached for a far corner. Surviving as a scavenger on Jakku ensured that she was in at least good physical condition as the average Trooper. 

“These Rathtars,” she was asking him. “What do they look like?”

Rounding the corner, they were brought up short by the sight of two surviving gang members doing battle with the subject of the question. It was enormous and round, and covered in light sensitive orange orbs, and composed mostly of tentacles and teeth. Raising one hand to her mouth, she caught her breath, simultaneously mesmerized and horrified by the sight. 

“They look like that.” Finn reached for over and took her hand into his, redirecting her back the way they’d come, around another corner. “This way!”

“Are you sure?!”

“I have good instin—”

One tentacle whipped around Finn’s ankle, yanking him loose from Rey’s hand and onto the floor. Another slithers into a firm grip on his waist, moving with incredible speed for something so massive.

Rey stops immediately, seeing her friend being snared, her face contorting into fear. “ _Finn!_ ” She wails, giving chase as he’s picked up.

Fighting in a desperate attempt to break free, Finn realized he might as well have been wrestling with a steel cable. Neither pounding on it with his fists or kicking at it with his drawn up legs produced the slightest reaction on the creature’s part. 

“ _Finn!_ ” Rey shrieks again, reaching her arm out to him. 

He holds out his own hand to her. “Rey!” 

The creature disappears around the corner, rushing off, and Rey loses sight of him. She found herself in a fork of the corridor, hearing far off shouts of Finn’s and tracked them down to the best of her ability, calling out for him. She kept running, keeping an eye out for anything. 

She ended up finding a control access panel, moving to it and eyed the cameras to see where Finn was. He was being dragged down a main corridor by the Rathtar. Dragged toward an empty intersection. With one hand over the pertinent control, she leaned toward the monitor, watching, waiting, hoping. 

Slowing, the Rathrar edged forward, checking both crosso corridors. No wonder they were so dangerous, she told herself as she kept her attention locked on the monitor. Reassured, the creature started forward again, dragging the increasingly weakened Finn behind it. Her hand came down on the control, the blast door descending with gratifying speed. The tentacles that held Finn were severed by the emergency door. Rey watched a dazed Finn struggle to his feet and commenced fighting to extricate himself from the still clinging pieces of amputated limbs. 

Stunned by his unexpected escape, he was free of it by the time Rey arrived. “It didn’t get you,” he said unnecessarily. “It had me!” He turned around. “But the door—”

“That was lucky.” She told him. 

For a moment he eyed her uncertainty, unable to quite escape the feeling that there was something she wasn’t telling him. But he still took her hand, leading her to where he knew the Falcon was. 

In the hangar, they met up with Han, BB-8, and a wounded Chewie. As they raced up the ramp, a grimacing Han gave orders. 

“You shut the hatch behind us!” He instructed Rey, who nodded a swift response. To Finn he snapped, “You take care of Chewbacca!” Half slipping free of his burden, half throwing the wounded copilot in Finn’s direction, Han charged up the ramp. 

Nearly collapsing beneath the Wookie’s weight, Finn manfully did his best to help the moaning Chewbacca stay upright as the two of them staggered the rest of the way up the ramp. 

Somehow they made it to the medbay. Helping Chewie into the padded alcove that served as a bed, Finn eased the Wookie in and started digging through the boxes of medical equipment that formed a line on the floor. This was something he could do, he knew, feeling considerably less helpless than he had when trying to assist Rey earlier. Every Stormtrooper received training in how to deal with battlefield wounds. 

Rey arrived in the cockpit, slipping into Chewbacc’s seat without invitation and Han was startled as he flipped on the controls. “What are you going?” 

Sliding her fingers over the console controls, she spoke while barely glancing in his direction. “Unkar Plutt installed a fuel pump, too. If we don’t prime, we’re not going anywhere.”

“I hate that guy.” Han muttered. 

Rey continued to bring instrumentation to life on her side of the cockpit. “And you could use a copilot.” 

Han frowned at her. “I got one. He’s back there.” Chewie then roared and Han rolled his eyes, getting into his seat and hands flew over the controls. “Watch the thrust, we’re going out of here at lightspeed.”

She knew a lot about ships, all kinds of ships. But in all her studies she had never come across the maneuver he had just proposed. 

“From _inside_ the hangar? Is that even possible?”

“I never ask that question until after I’ve done it.” 

A heavy thumping penetrated the cockpit and Rey screamed as a giant radial mouth that all but covered the forward port. The tooth filled mouth belonged to a Rathtar, which, perceiving the presence of living non-Rathtars inside the craft, was chewing its damnedest to get at them. Designed to protect against high velocity meteoric impacts, the port suffered no immediate damage. 

“This is not how I thought this day was gonna go.” He then points. “Angle the shields.” 

Rey nods, doing as told. 

The Falcon powered up, a quartet of gang members took a chance in emerging from cover to fire at the ship. Though their shots were handled by the Falcon’s shields, the detonations resonated within. 

As far as Han could tell, everything was in readiness. He yelled in the direction of the medbay. “Hang on back there!” 

Having dealt with the basics of Chewie’s injury, Finn was rummaging through the depths of the medkit he’d found in search of something stronger than a primary painkiller. 

“No problem!” He calls back, pulling out a Marksman-H training remote before tossing it off to the side. 

“Come on, baby,” Han was murmuring, “don’t let me down.” He pulled on the main hyperdrive control. Nothing. “What?” 

Reaching across to his side of the console, Rey calmy points to the control he had not touched and spoke in a matter-of-factly tone. “Compressor.” 

Han glared at her, only for a moment before giving a half smile. He pushed it and an enormous, overpowering thunder filled the cargo hangar as the Falcon’s engine came to life. The Guavians, the corridor, and the walls surrounding them all disappeared. The Rathtar fell apart as the Falcon jumped through it, leaving tell-tale smears behind. The stars stretched like elastic and off into hyperspace they went. 

Safely sealed off behind the blast doors that slammed shut following the breach of hull integrity caused by the Falcon’s unorthodox departure, a battered and infuriated Bala-Tik took time out from bemoaning the loss of his men and equipment to activate a deep-space contact. 

“Inform the First Order that Han Solo has the droid they want. And it’s aboard the Millennium Falcon.”

A fleet of Star Destroyers stood off the white world. Spectacular and isolated, with a mean surface temperature varying from merely cold to permanently arctic, the planet had been altered: its mountains tunneled into, its glaciers hacked, and it’s valley’s modified until it no longer resembled its original naturally eroded form. Those who had remaid it had renamed it. 

Starkiller Base. 

Hollowed out of one snow-covered mountain was a central control facility. At its heart was a great assembly chamber that held hundreds of workstations and their attendant seats. At present, it was occupied by only four figures. One was Kylo Ren. The second was Nova. The third was General Hux, who wore his particular mask internally. 

Seated on the raised platform that was the focus of the chamber was the blue tinted holo of Supreme Leader Snoke. Tall and gaunt, he was humanoid but not human. The hood of the dark robe he wore was down, leaving visible a pink, pale face so aged it verged on translucence. Poorly reconstructed, the broken nose added to the asymmetry of the damaged visage. So did the position of the left eye, which was situated lower than the right. Beneath wispy grey eyebrows, they were a starling cobalt blue. Long since healed over, old cuts and wounds married the chin and forehead, the latter scar being particular noteworthy. 

Seated in shadow, the tall, slender form loomed over the three. Other than the face, only long, spindly fingers showed from beneath the dark robe. “The droid will soon be delivered to the Resistance leading them to the last Jedi.” Snoke declared, his voice deep, soothing, and of someone who was in control. 

Nova gulps, staring up at the figure who was about twenty-five feet tall, feeling minuscule and insignificant. Her mind was still reeling over what Mitaka had said. A girl was helping Finn and BB-8, it could be her sister. It just _had_ to be! If Nova was able to survive all that she endured on different systems and planets, surely Rey would’ve been able to handle the conditions of Jakku. 

“If Skywalker returns,” Snoke’s voice brought her back to her senses, not realizing that she had dropped her stare from him and tilted her chin back up, “the new Jedi will rise.” 

He leans down, getting close and his piercing eyes find Nova effortlessly since she stood in the middle of Kylo and Armitage. The intense stare has her drop her eyes once again, staring down at her boots. She had no idea why she was even there, she’d never been a part of these conferences before and it made her uneasy standing between the two men and the hologram. She only ever met Snoke once, but that was years ago, seeing him again but this close up was too profound and queasy. Nova felt as if she’d collapse under the incredible amount of energy he gave off but she somehow was still standing, both feet planted and her back straightened out. 

Gandering at Kylo, Nova noticed just how impassive he was, neither commenting nor visibly betraying his thoughts as he held his head high to Snoke. 

Hux dipped his head by way of apology and took a step toward the dais. “Supreme Leader, I take full responsibility for th—”

“General!” Snoke’s voice boomed, bouncing off the walls and Nova managed not to recoil as he stood from his throne. He was colossal now. “Our strategy must now change.” 

Aware that he had just been spared an unknown but certainly unpleasant fate, the redheaded officer spoke up without hesitation. “I do have a proposition. The weapon. It is ready. I believe the time has come to use it.” 

At the same time, Kylo and Nova side eye Hux for a moment then fully turn their heads at him. 

“We shall destroy the government that supports the Resistance. The Republic. Without their friends to protect them the Resistance will be vulnerable.” At the sound of this, Snoke sits back down on his throne, clearly pleased. “And we will stop them before they reach Skywalker.” 

“Yes,” Snoke said in satisfaction. “Extreme. Audacious. I agree that the time for such measures has come. Go. Oversee preparations.” 

“Yes, Supreme Leader.” Bowing stiffly, Hux turned. “Let’s go, Ms. Hux.” 

Nova goes to follow, grateful for once that she was under the supervision of him by Snoke’s order. She wouldn’t be able to handle the extreme tremors that Snoke’s being given off any more, even through the showings of a holo. Armitage Hux was finally being a protector to her, being her shelter of safety . . . that was until a tornado wrecked it. 

“Actually, Ms. Hux, I’d like you to stay.” Snoke lures her back into his presence and Nova closes her eyes in exhaustion, already feeling anxiety hitting her like a massive wave. 

“Yes, Supreme Leader.” Hux continues on exiting the chamber, taking long strides, walking briskly; clearly pleased with himself. 

_Lucky bastard,_ Nova cursed as she stood next to Kylo once again and gripped onto the ends of her gauze wrappings.

When Snoke spoke next there was an intimacy in his voice, a familiarity that stood in sharp contrast to the commanding tone he has used with Hux. It startled Nova, the previous moments that she had endured no longer seemed real as he regarded Kylo. Slowly, then all at once, she realized that this was somewhat answering her question of why Kylo Ren chose the Order over Resistance. Snoke was being gentle with him, giving somewhat of a family appearance and it made her scrunch up her nose. Nova may have her own problems with her parents, but she could sense the deceit that hung over the Supreme Leader’s shoulders. 

“I have never had a student with such promise before you.” 

Kylo straightened. “It is your teachings that make me strong, Supreme Leader.” 

Snoke demurred. “It is far more than that. It is where you are from. What you are made of. The dark side, and the light. The finest sculptor cannot fashion a masterpiece from poor materials. He must have something pure, something strong, something unbreakable, with which to work. I have you, and now, we have Ms. Nova Hux.” 

He happily peers to the girl and Kylo gives her a look as well, feeling how conflicted she was on the inside. Her thoughts projected once more and they flashed before his eyes, telling him how she felt about standing before the Supreme Leader and how she felt disgusted when he spoke fondly of him. Her worries then spiked when he mentioned her name, her eyes glassy and peering up to Snoke before she drifted them towards him. 

Fear, distrust, sadness, _and_ care. Those were the emotions that were swarming Nova like a hurricane and Kylo felt them all. Their connection was even stronger than before and it tugged at him, suffocated him and though it was a nuisance at times, Kylo didn’t mind. 

“There has been an awakening,” Snoke starts and Kylo turns away from Nova. “Have you felt it?” 

“Yes.” 

Snoke studied him for a moment. “Nova Hux is now in tune with the Force, that has been _your_ doing.” He states knowingly but something about his words was threatening. “Kylo Ren, I watched the Galactic Empire rise, and then fall. The gullible prattle on about the triumph of truth and justice, of individualism and free will. As if such things were solid and real instead of simple subjective judgements. The historians have it all wrong. It was neither poor strategy nor arrogance that brought down the Empire. You know too well what did.” 

Kylo nodded once. “Sentiment.” 

“Yes. Such a simple thing. Such a foolish error of judgment. A momentary lapse in an otherwise exemplary life.” 

Nova frowned, she knew what Snoke was getting at and she knew that Kylo did too. It made her angry for some reason, feel belittled and she wondered where the strong sensation came from. Quickly, she felt an immense amount of weight on her side and out of the corner of her eye, she sees Kylo clenching his hands into fists behind his back. The emotion had come _from_ him. 

“I am immune to the light,” Kylo assured him confidently. “By the grace of your training, I will not be seduced.” 

“Your self belief is commendable, Kylo Ren, but do not let it blind you. No one knows the limits of his own power until it has been tested to the utmost, as yours has not been. The day may yet come. The elements align, Kylo Ren. You alone are caught in the winds of the storm. Your bond is not just to Vader, but to Skywalker himself. Leia—”

“There is no need for concern.” Despite the Supreme Leader’s cautioning, Kylo’s assurance remained unbounded. “Together we will destroy the Resistance, and the last Jedi.” 

“Perhaps,” Snoke conceded. “There’s something else. The droid we seek is aboard the Millennium Falcon. In the hands of your father, Han Solo.”

Kylo pauses and Nova senses it, looking at him. He considered his reply carefully. “He means nothing to me.”

“Even you, master of the Knights of Ren, have never faced such a test.” 

“My allegiance is with you. No one will stand in our way. I’ll make sure of it.”

“We shall see.” Snoke nods, observing Nova who still eyed his young apprentice. “Ms. Hux,” he calls, “I do congratulate you on your success.” 

She gives him her own nod of understanding. “Thank you, Supreme Leader. It’s been meticulous.” 

“Your fast learning proves you worthy of being a great novice under Master Ren. I have high hopes for you, Nova Hux. Don’t let me down.” 

His call fades out, leaving Kylo and her all alone in the empty chamber. 

Nova releases a breath that she had no idea that she’s been holding and makes way for the exit, taking big, lurching steps to try and escape from the pressurized atmosphere. Kylo was pursuing, gaining on her heels and she tried to reasonably go through what had just happened, not paying much attention as she fumbled with her leather cuff. 

Snoke mentioned that BB-8 was now in the ownership of Han Solo, Kylo’s father, and she wondered if that meant Finn and her sister were with them. Or had they gone somewhere else and traded the droid off to Han? If Finn betrayed the Order, and Rey was with him, did that mean that the Order wanted her dead too? Did her sister ever think about her? Did Rey believe that Nova was even alive, or at least hoped? Did—

“Nova, don’t overwork yourself.” Kylo’s modified voice calms her for a rare moment before her thoughts begin to overpower her mind once again.

She instantly spins around, seeing him standing still, face hidden behind his mask but sensed that he was curious. Unintentionally, she spoke the first thing that came to the front of her mind. “You saw how Snoke looked at me.” She takes a step up towards him. “You knew what he was insinuating when he mentioned you training me and I felt this . . _thing_ that wasn’t me. It was _you_.” Just like the emotion, this prompt came out of nowhere and with her bond with Kylo, she figured that it was his thought. “You were upset, why?” 

“He had you join us because you were a Force user, had you join the First Order to be taught our ways—how _I_ was taught. I did just that, and he surmises that it’ll draw me to the light.” 

Another step closer, her eyes squinting and using what he taught her, searching his mind. “It’s more than just that though, isn’t it?” 

Kylo cranes his head down, allowing Nova to see her reflection in his visor. “I belong to the dark side.” 

“Snoke said it himself, you’re composed of the light and the dark.” Nova raises her left hand, tapping the side of his helmet where his temple would be and at the touch, though not skin to skin, she feels his fear. “It scares you. Badly.” 

Kylo removes from her touch, redirecting himself about her and puts a few feet between them before turning to stare at her back. “You want to see me without my helmet, why?” He now turns the tables on her. 

When Nova touched his mask and felt his fear, he had felt her want. And she desperately wanted to see his face. It was unexpected and mysterious to him. He knows that Nova saw him without his helmet before but she wanted to see him now, more than ever. She longed to see the boy that crashed onto that planet and took her away from Bylsma. 

“Because I know you.” Nova softly faces him. “People just see a creature in a mask, a monster, but I don’t. I know you’re human, I know you have feelings and thoughts and emotions.” She draws close to him once again. “I know you’re _Ben_.” 

The sound of his birth name falling from her lips sends a stun in his bloodstream, his veins feeling warmer and the tensing in his bones to fade away. How dare she have this kind of affect on him? It was so unprofessional and it upset him. He internally grumbles to himself, her body getting closer and his brain tries to pull himself away but his heart . . . _Oh_ , his heart told him something else. 

“I understand that name is outlandish to you now, but when I first met you, that’s who I saw. Not Kylo Ren, but Ben Solo.” And that was her answer. And with nothing else to say, Nova took in a small breath through her nose, stepped away and out of the exit.

Kylo Ren stood, motionless, in silence, in the dark room once again with her words haunting him with the ghosts of his past.


	5. The Light

Despite their daring escape, all was not tranquil aboard the Millennium Falcon. After having acquired it, Unkar Plutt had paid for only minimum maintenance, with the intention of preparing it fully for flight only if and when he found a buyer, so components that had worked immediately following lift off from the surface of Jakku were not starting to show the lack of attention, and other were turning balky. 

In the cockpit, sparks flew above Rey and Han eyed the section. “Electrical overload.” 

“I can fix that.” Rey stands from her seat, reaching up to the instrumentation that was smoking. 

“The coolant’s leaking.” He grumbles, eyeing the readout. 

Rey worked frantically, pausing for a moment and calling to Han. “Try transferring auxiliary power to the secondary—”

“Secondary tank, I got it!” He nods, flipping a switch. 

In the lounge, Finn was finishing the bandaging of Chewbacca’s injured shoulder. For someone so big, he reflected as he ducked and dodged the bellowing Wookie’s reactions, Chewie was proving to be an uncommonly difficult patient. As a huge, shaggy hand grabbed Finn yet again, his voice was muffled by an armful of fur.

“Chewie, come on! You’ve got to let go of me. I can’t secure this properly if I can’t see what I’m doing. Or move. Or breathe.” 

The Wookie nodded apprehensively. 

“Okay, then help me out here. Let go.” Chewbacca promptly shook his head no. Exasperated, now more than just sore, Finn yelled toward the cockpit. “I need help with this giant hairy thing!” 

BB-8 began traveling over, willing to help out the young man but at his approach, Chewie roared anew in pain and the droid screams in a whir, scurrying away. He heads to the cockpit, bubbling in beeps. 

A grim faced Han peered back into the hold. “You hurt Chewie,” he growled, “you’re gonna deal with me!” 

“Hurt _him_?” Finn continued to struggle with the Wookie’s torso, shaggy arms, and bandaging. “He’s almost killed _me_ six times!” Reaching out, a massive hand grabbed him by the throat and brought his face close to Chewbacca’s. “Which is fine.” He wheezed, his air getting cut off. 

Han unhappily scanned one readout after another, leaning back in his seat. 

“This hyperdrive blows, there are gonna be pieces of us in different systems.” 

Rey suddenly yanked out a device, the alarms stopping abruptly and the hyperdrive normalizes. Satisfied, she sits back in her seat and Han was confused as he peered over to her. 

“What’d you do?” 

She held up the piece, a huge grin spreading across her lips. “I bypassed the compressor.” 

He let out a short, appreciative laugh. “Huh.” He rose from his seat and retraced his steps toward the access corridor. 

Back in the medbay, he knelt alongside the supine Chewbacca on the bed alcove. The Wookie was still moaning , but not as forcefully now that the analgesic Finn had administered was starting to work. Carefully, Han checked the bandaged wound while reassuring his copilot. 

“Nah,” he murmured, “don’t say that. You did great. Just rest.” 

Han turned to Finn, who, with BB-8 standing beside and watching. Looking on, Han hesitated. This was difficult for him, but it needed to be said. And he meant it 

“Good job, kid. Thanks.” 

“You’re welcome.” Finn leaned his elbow on the holochess and hit a control that brought it to life. The pieces steaded themselves before gazing up at Finn. Then, in lieu of any forthcoming instructions, they started fighting among themselves. Annoyed by his lack of control, Finn tried to turn it off, but that apparently required finding and nudging a different control. Han suppressed a smile. 

_Peculiar guy, this one,_ Han thought and Finn shut off the chess board, gandering up at him as Rey entered the room to join them, standing next to BB-8. “So, fugitives, huh?” He asked upon seeing the two next to each other again

Finn nods and indicates BB-8. “It’s the map he’s storing. The First Order wants it, and they’ll kill anyone who tries to keep it from them.” 

“They’re with the Resistance.” Rey adds, her eyes shifting between the droid and Finn. “And I was with them. So I guess now in the mind of the Order, _I’m_ with the Resistance.” 

_Resistance fighters?_ Han eyed Finn with new respect and not a little skepticism. The younger man had handled himself well enough in the brawl on board the freighter, but that only proved her was a survivor—not a fighter. Further evaluation could wait until later, Han told himself. Right now . . . 

He looked at BB-8. “Let’s see whatcha got.” 

BB-8 beeps to Rey and she encourages him. Dutifully, the droid rolled into a suitable position and his lens brightened, and the lounge was all but filled with an enormously detailed and complex star map. Nebulae, solo stars, translucent splashes of concentrated dark matter, and entire solar systems were displayed before them. Even Chewbacca sat up to have a better look. Finn was impressed and Rey was in awe while Han found himself frowning. 

Moving forwards and into the three dimensional representation, he tracked the system positions and locator stars. One finger traced the outlines of a particular bright and well known nebular cluster. Like everything else in the map, it was brilliantly depicted. 

It was also only half there. 

“This map’s not complete. It’s just a piece.” He grunted softly. “Ever since Luke disappeared, people have been looking for him.”

Rey spoke while drinking in the details of the marvelous but imperfect chart. “Why did he leave?” 

Han pursed his lips as he thought back, remembering. “He was training a new generation of Jedi. One boy, an apprentice, turned against him, destroyed it all. Luke felt responsible . . . He just walked away from everything.”

Finn’s tone was respectful as he stood. “Do you know what happened to him?” 

“A lot of rumors. Stories. The people who knew him the best think he went looking for the first Jedi temple.”

Rey had been quiet, absorbing everything in awed silence. She could no longer contain herself. “The Jedi were real?”

Han half smiled. “I used to wonder about that myself. Thought it was a bunch of mumbo-jumbo. A magical power holding together good, evil, the dark side and the light. Crazy thing is, it’s true.” He glances to Finn and Rey, his voice fading. “The Force. The Jedi. All of it. It’s all true.”

An alarm sounded, but this one was different from the flurry that had preceded it. Chewbacca started to rise, but Han put out a hand to prevent him. 

“No, you rest.” He then glanced at Rey and Finn as BB-8 discontinued the map projection. “You want my help? You’re getting it. Gonna see an old friend. She’ll get your droid home. This is our stop.” Rey, Finn, and BB-8 follow Han into the cockpit, him piloting as he takes the craft off autopilot.

Verdant and mild, flecked with bands of white clouds and necklaced with small seas and brightly reflective lakes, Takodana appeared before them as the Millennium Falcon dropped out of hyperspace. Rey was in copilot while Finn and BB-8 stood behind her and Han, waiting. 

The Falcon was sent into a shallow dive, heading for a well remembered location. Speed stripped away the clouds around them, revealing what looked like endless evergreen forest. As Han slowed the ship to a suborbital velocity, other features lingered in his passengers’ gaze: rolling hills, rivers, and lakes that glistened like sheets of silver foil. 

Within Finn, he felt Rey’s wonder and sadness. The boy peeks up, seeing her staring fixedly out of the foreport, seemingly on the verge of tears. 

“Rey, you alright?” He gently rests his hand on her shoulder as if she were glass but he knew that wasn’t true, she was strong and self-sufficient. 

She delicately shakes her head in disbelief. “I didn’t know there was this much green in the whole galaxy.” Her voice is soft, low, and heartbreaking and it brings him to give her a small squeeze of comfort. 

A towering stone castle came into view as Han prepared for touchdown. Looking at it, Finn could not tell by whose hands—or other manipulative appendages—it had been raised. The study of architecture was not a subject on which incipient Stormtroopers tended to focus. One side of the castle was dominated by a long freshwater lake. Of more interest to him, the other side featured a landing area crowded with small freighters not unlike the Millennium Falcon. Like the Falcon, the majority of parked craft looked worn and heavily used, but well maintained. 

Disembarking, Rey and BB-8 marveled at forest, lake, and castle. Limping slightly but otherwise disdaining his wounds, Chewie ignored the rustic panorama in favor of inspecting the underside of the Falcon. Rey takes in the serene landscape as she hears birds chirping, water rippling on the surface, and feeling the warm light on her skin and cool breeze blowing past her. She couldn’t can’t believe that the place where she stood was real, closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath of fresh air. Not even the air smelt real and it just made her smile even more. 

Still on board, Han popped a storage unit and began rummaging through the contents. From among the jumble he withdrew one used blaster after another, placing them carefully to one side. He was still at it when Finn came up behind him. 

“Hey, Solo, I’m not sure what we’re walking into here.”

Half turning, Han looked back at him, said quietly, “Did you just call me ‘Solo’?”

“Sorry—Han.” Finn corrects himself. “Mr. Solo. You should know, I’m a big deal in the Resistance. Which puts a real target on my back. Are there any conspirators here? First Order sympathizers?”

His expression turned serious as he faced the boy. “Listen, Big Deal. You got another problem. A bigger problem. Much more serious than worrying about First Order sympathizers. Women always figure out the truth.” He handed over a blaster rifle, hitting Finn’s chest with it. “Always.” 

He brushed past the younger man, heading for the exitway. Finn watched him, wracked with guilt. But there was nothing he could do about it. Not now, anyway. 

Outside, Han saw how Rey was barely able to contain her delight at their surroundings. He strolled up next to her, offering a blaster. 

“You might need this.” 

Rey looked down at the weapon, then back at him. “I’ve been in one or two tough situations. I think I can handle myself.” 

“I know you do. That’s why I’m giving it to you.” He pushed the weapon toward her. “Take it.” 

She contemplated the blaster, drawn to it as she was to any piece of new and unfamiliar tech, and finally accepted it, hefting it carefully. She raised the weapon and aimed it at an imaginary target, careful to keep the muzzle pointed well away from Han or anyone else. 

“You know how to use one of those?” 

“Yeah. You pull the trigger.” She shot back. 

“Little bit more to it than that.” He lowers her hand down. “You got a lot to learn. You got a name?” 

“Rey.” 

“Rey,” he repeated. “I’ve been thinkin’ about bringing on some more crew, Rey. A second mate. Someone to help out. Someone who can keep up with Chewie and me, appreciates the Falcon.”

She smiles softly, cocking an eye at him. “Are you offering me a job?”

He met her stare without blinking. “I wouldn’t be nice to you. It doesn’t pay much.”

Pleased as well as taken aback, she replies, “You’re offering me a job.”

“I’m _thinking_ about it.” He corrects her. 

Rey loses her smile, wanting to say yes but she knew that she couldn’t. 

“Well?”

Her eyes find his. “If you were, I’d be flattered.” A pause. “But I have to get home.”

“Where, Jakku?” He ponders.

She nods. “I’ve already been away too long.”

Han turns, seeing Chewbacca and shouts to him. “Check out the ship as best you can.” He then returns to Rey, “It’s too bad. Chewie kind of likes you.” She then smiled wide at his words as he headed off towards the castle. 

Finn walks next to Rey, the blaster hanging over his shoulder as he lingers behind Han and BB-8. They were able to enjoy the forest and the occasional glimpse among the woods of examples of indigenous wildlife. These invariably proved small and nonthreatening. Approaching the impressive structure and its odd, trapezoidal stonework, Finn found himself unable to estimate its age. 

“Solo, why are we here again?” He asked as they startled up a wide, curving stone staircase. 

“To get your droid on a clean ship.”

Rey was confused. “Clean?”

“Do you think it was luck that Chewie and I found the Falcon? If we can find it on our scanners, the First Order’s not far behind.” Han motions towards the soaring walls now rising before them. Colored flags representing numerous cultures and tribes hung from the battlements, some banners more faded and frayed than others. “Want to get BB-8 to the Resistance? Maz Kanata is our best bet.”

“We can trust her, right?” 

“Relax, kid.” Han informs Finn. “She’s run this watering hole for a thousand years. Maz is a bit of an acquired taste, so let me do the talking. And whatever you do, don’t stare.”

Rey and Finn replied simultaneously. “At what?”

“Any of it.” Han warned them. 

Han opens the entrance. A corridor led to a sizeable open hall of neatly finished stonework where a hodgepodge of humans, humanoids, and distinctly nonhumans were engaged in what struck Finn as a perpetual round of eating, drinking, gambling, scheming, negotiating, arguing, and occasionally attempting to split one another’s livers. Or some equivalent organ. Leading the way, Han alternatively shoved, requested, or cajoled assorted occupants of the hall out of their path, until at last he halted. 

“Han Solo!” A voice called loud and all activity in the hall immediately ceased as everyone, regardless of species or aural acuity, turned to look in the newcomers’ direction.

Rey and Finn turn to see a very short and very old humanoid standing over by the bar, across the room. What could be seen were huge lenses that were as much goggles as glasses folded forward over both eyes. A nose that was small, almost petite, and a mouth that was thin and drawn. 

“Oh, boy.” Han mutters wearily and lifts his hand, giving a wave. “Hey, Maz!”

Maz Kantana was dressed simply and practically with baggy dark maroon pants tucked into handmade boots, a vest of some charcoal grey material was fitted over a blue-green sweater like shirt whose sleeves were rolled up to just neath the elbows, exposing skin that was almost gold colored. A buckle of some silvery material fastened a leatherine belt from which hung an assortment of tech. In contrast to the plain clothing, the collection of bracelets and rings she wore bordered on the ostentatious.

She wandered over to stand in front of Han, peering up, her goggled eyes wide as everyone in the hall went back to doing their own thing. “Where’s my boyfriend?” 

“Chewie’s working on the Falcon.” Han told her with an amused smile. 

“I like that Wookie. I assume you need something.” She then lingers her eyes to Finn, Rey, and the astromech. “Desperately.” She adds before gesturing for them to follow her. “Let’s get to it.”

The new arrivals headed off, trailing Maz out of the main hall. Being unremarkable specimens of sentient life, they drew only the occasional passing glance. 

Among those who watched them go were an enormous hairless mass of slovenly dressed Dowutin muscle called Grummgar and a svelte slice of skin who went by the name Bazine Netal. In contrast to her hulking companion, Bazine was fully human and severely clad in a long sleeved dress patterned in an optical illusion of black and grey, complete with black leather skullcap, neck piece, shoulder covering, and a belt that held a long, lethal blade, she also boasted lips and forefingers painted black. Unlike those whose eyes lingered but briefly on the new visitors, this mismatched couple tracked Han and his companions until they were out of sight. As soon as they had disappeared, Netal slipped away from the crowd. 

The communicator she employed was capable of sending encrypted messages via the central planetary communications booster. With that much power, it didn’t take long to establish a long range connection. 

“Inform the First Order, I found the droid.” 

While Finn’s appetite had been sharpened by a Trooper’s customary diet of synthsust, it was nothing compared to Rey’s. In spite of himself, he could only marvel at the amount of food the girl downed once they sat at a circular table. It was as if she had never eaten real food in her life. Origins didn’t seem to matter, either. She grabbed and consumed examples of anything within an arm’s reach without bothering to ascertain its genesis. Han also ate energetically, but he was considerably more decorous. Finn listened to the nearby spherical form of BB-8, beeping to Maz. 

“A map. To Skywalker himself?” She chuckles, giving an amused look to Han. “You’re right back in the mess.”

“Maz, I need you to get this droid to Leia.” 

“Hmm, no.” she said archly which made Finn eye her and Rey pause in her eating. “You’ve been running away from this fight for too long. Han. Nyakee nago wadda. Go home.” 

“Leia doesn’t want to see me.” Han said uneasily. 

Finn sits up in his chair, leaning in forwards. “Please, we came here for your help.”

“What fight?” Rey asks. 

Maz looks at her. “The only fight: against the dark side Through the ages, I’ve seen evil take many forms. The Sith. The Empire. Today, it is the First Order. Their shadow is spreading across the galaxy. We must face them. Fight them. All of us.” 

Finn was breathing heavy through his nose, his shoulder moving with every inhale and exhale. “There is no fight against the First Order. Not one we can win. Look around. There’s no chance we haven’t been recognized already. I bet you the First Order is on their way right—” He broke off as Maz adjusted her goggles, making her eyes grow even larger than usual. “What’s this? What are you doing?”

Instead of right away, Maz’s eyes somehow grew even larger within the goggles, impossibly huge. Then she climbed up onto the table and made her way towards Finn to inspect him as cups clatter to the floor. He started to feel nervous in a way he hadn’t since entering the castle. 

“Solo, what is she doing?” 

Han shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said, “but it ain’t good.” 

“If you live long enough, you see the same eyes in different people.” She adjusted the goggles again, and to Finn’s relief the pirate’s eyes went back to normal. “I’m looking at the eyes of a man who wants to run.” She said solemnly. 

“You don’t know a thing about me.” Finn said in a low tone, his words holding back frustration. “Where I’m from. What I’ve seen. You don’t know the First Order like I do. They’ll slaughter us. We all need to run.” 

Rey focuses on him for a moment, the hair raising on the back of her neck. There was something that was nipping at her from Finn’s demeanor, and she desperately tried to pluck at it but her fingers didn’t know where the force was coming from. 

Maz considered him, getting back in her chair and pointed back into the main hall area where a guy with a big head, red shirt, and shiny gun sat with another who wore a red helmet with ear flares. “You see those two? They’ll trade work for transportation to the Outer Rim. There, you can disappear.”

Rey’s voice speaks with serenity as she utters his name and he follows it to his heart’s content to see her eyebrows knitted in confusion and her soft red tinted lips parted which allowed the lights to glint off her perfectly rounded teeth.

“Come with me.” The words left his mouth effortlessly and without hesitation and he had meant it. He wanted her to join him, to be at his side and for them to run away together since they now belonged on the First Order’s hit list. He could help her keep safe, if she’d let him. Jakku wasn’t the best place to go back after what happened. 

“What about BB-8?” Rey indicates to the droid with her eyes and Finn follows the gander. “We’re not done yet. We have to get him back to _your_ base.”

Guilt swarmed within his gut, and he felt sick. “I can’t.”

Awkwardly, Finn rose from his seat. Everything had happened fast. Too fast. The last thing he had anticipated was the fulfillment of his request. Reaching slowly around his shoulder, he drew the rifle that Han had given him and offered it to its owner. 

Han stares at it, then to Finn. “Keep it, kid.” 

Finn pauses, but there was nothing more to say. Pointless words wasted in the atmosphere. Turning, he walked away. 

As he went, Rey was hurt by the abrupt turn of events. They had been through a great deal together, she and this strange but agreeable youth, and his sudden, somewhat inexplicable leave taking was hitting her hard. Her parents left her, her sister was taken, and now Finn was leaving, approaching the table that Maz had pointed out. 

Though his thoughts were churning, Finn managed to keep them under control as he sat before the humanoids. “I was told you can get me to the Outer Rim. I’ll work for a lift to any civilized world.” 

The first mate replied to him, but Finn didn’t understand a word of whatever language the one legged Gabdorin was speaking. The exchange was then interrupted by Rey’s arrival, him gazing up at her face that was angry and muddled all at once. 

“What are you doing?” 

He then eyed the leader of the alien crew. “Don’t leave without me.” Finn stands, edging Rey away from the table, leaving the aliens to mutter incomprehensibly among themselves. 

“You can’t just go. I won’t let you.” Rey turns to him, their bodies just inches away from touching since she stood on a stair which leveled out their height difference. “You’re part of this fight. We both are.” She searched his face. “You must feel something . . .”

“I’m not who you think I am.”

She was shaking her head slowly, not comprehending what she was hearing. “Finn, what are you talking about? I’ve watched you, I’ve seen you.” 

“I’m not Resistance. I’m not a hero.” His voice tightened as he finally blurted out the truth. “I’m a Stormtrooper.”

That silenced her. He might as well have hit her across the face with the business end of a blaster.

“Like all of them, I was taken from a family I’ll never know.” He continues on. “And raised to do one thing. But my first battle, I made a choice. I wasn’t going to kill for them. So I ran. Right into you. And you looked at me like no one ever had. I was ashamed of what I was. But I’m done with the First Order. I’m never going back.” Suddenly he found it hard to swallow, much less to speak. “Rey, come with me.” 

He could feel her longing, see her eyes getting glassy from tears that threatened to spill over and flow down her cheeks. She had taken in and absorbed his words, and she had no ounce of hate within her. It shocked Finn. He had lied to her but that’s not what she cared about, the only thing she was thinking of was of them being a team—being together. 

“Don’t go.” She pleads. 

His next words and action hurt him more than what the First Order could ever do to him. 

“Take care of yourself,” he begged her. “Please.” Finn turns and heads back to the group of waiting aliens. 

The red helmeted captain looked up at him, Finn nodded once, hoping the gesture was as universal as he had been told. The first mate replied in his stumbling language and Finn nodded a second time. The crew members rose and headed for the main doorway. As Finn started to go with them, an anguished Rey pivoted and turned her back on him. 

Finn had wanted to say something more before realizing anything he could come up with would be worse than superfluous. Better to leave it as it was, he told himself. Clean break, no scene, no yelling and shouting. He went with the members of the alien crew, pausing at the hall exit to glance back just once. She was still walking away, not looking in his direction as the door closed behind him. 

Rey was weary, coupled with Finn’s confession and his walking out on the rest of them. It made her wonder, not for the first time, what she was doing here. She felt lost and alone. No different than she had felt on Jakku, she told herself. Under the weight of her loneliness everything around her seemed to fade, until there was nothing surrounding her but a silence as deep and profound as the distant reaches of space itself. 

A feeling, unrecognizable yet somehow familiar, draws Rey and she turns her head. She listens intently, hearing a little girl screaming “No! Come back!” She makes way towards a nearby corridor and BB-8 sees her, following close by. 

There was a stairway there, ancient stonework leading downward. Perceiving her unease, BB-8 glanced up to her. Just then, Rey started down the stairway and he went after, struggling. 

The stairway terminated in a deserted, dimly subterranean corridor. Though the passageway was not long, it appeared so to her. At the very end was a single door. It almost seemed to vibrate as Rey stood before it, hearing another small cry of “No!” There was a seal, a lock, on the door but it opened before her. 

It was darker still in the room beyond. Among the stone arches and alcoves she could see crates piled haphazardly and shelves filled with packages heavy with age and just. A bust of some unknown bearded human sat on the floor next to an antique shield fashioned of an unknown silvery metal. Tarps and cloth covered in much of the collection. There seemed no rhyme or reason to the place, no organization of any kind. Objects of obvious value sat side by side with simple woven baskets and bundles of unknown plants. 

Rey stepped in, seeing a single wooden box and there was nothing especially impressive about the container; nothing overtly valuable or significant. Yet of all the items in the chamber she was drawn only to it. Behind her, a small unsure beep came from an anxious BB-8. 

She kneels before it, lifting the hatch up and opening the box to reveal a silver cylinder. She never seen anything like it before but it reached her and in return, she did the same. Her right hand hesitated for a moment then as she made contact with it, there was the piercing sound of a lightsaber igniting. Rey shrieks and stands in an instance to find the source of the noise. 

The room shifts to complete darkness as a heavy, slow, mechanical breathing fills the air. Rey stands, turning around to find herself looking down a hallway, its architecture reminiscent of the Old Empire. Someone, somewhere, somewhen, spoke. **_Its energy . . ._**

She began hurrying through the halls, seeing a silhouette of someone at the end of the hallway. The world turned on its side, causing her to trip and fall onto the wall, which had become the ground. Not the adamantine ceramic she had just seen, but dry grass.

 ** _. . . surrounds us, and binds us._** She glanced up in front of her, it being night and seeing a small blue and silver R2 unit a new yards away from a burning temple. A new figure appeared, covered with a robe as he fell to his knees and reached out to the droid with an artifice of an arm—metal and plastics and other materials.

Harsh rain began pouring down, lightning and thunder cracking from above. It was chilling and cold. She then heard the sound of a weapon being activated once again and she whipped her head back to behind her, looking up to see someone taking the full force of a red lightsaber that pierced through the back of his chest. He screamed and fell in the puddles next to her, splatters of mud landing on her face and she stood hurriedly. 

**_The Force will be . . ._** Another voice echoes. 

She was on a battlefield, surrounded by lifeless bodies that surrounded her and seven tall, cloaked figures who were dark and foreboding, and all armed. Soaked and shivering, she stumbled backward, seeing the being that stood in the middle with the red blade that hummed in his gloved hand. Rey was frightened. 

The girl screams again, begging. 

Rey turns, dry standing in a desert landscape as sunlight illuminates her. She sees the little girl, sobbing and hysterical, and in the arms of another girl who was a few years older than her who was being gripped by Unkar Plutt. It was Rey and her sister Nova, as children, being abandoned and left on Jakku. 

Unkar Plutt threatens Nova to keep her quiet, squeezing the older girl’s thin forearm that was captured in his meaty hand as she held young Rey gently and with love. The two of them have to endure watching their parents leave on a starship as it flies towards the desert sun, which turns eclipsed and basks Rey in a red glow and fading in darkness. 

Around her now was barren, snowy woods, and Rey had a conviction that she was losing her mind. From in front of her, not far away, came the sounds of battle: the cries of the wounded and the clashing of weapons. Her chilled breath preceded her as she heard someone speak from behind.

**_Rey?_ **

She whirled, glazed eyes desperately scanning the dark gaps between slender trees, trying to penetrate the darkness. She started forward, running, only to be brought to a sudden halt by a figure appearing without warning from behind a tree. 

She screamed and fell backward, backward, and landing down hard in—

She was in the underground corridor, sitting on the cold old stone, her chest pounding as if she had just run from her home all the way to Niima Outpost. **_These are your first steps._** The last voice calls. Her eyes focused on the storage area that she had just emerged from before seeing a small figure that was watching her in the passageway in the middle of her and the far stairway. It was Maz Kantana, standing alone. 

“What was that?” Rey stammered as she struggled to catch her breath. 

BB-8 rolls out of the open doorway and Maz looks from her to BB-8 to the room then back to Rey who stood unsteadily; her mind still rocked by a succession of rapidly evaporating nightmares. 

“I shouldn’t have gone in there.” Aware that she might well have violated unknown privacies, she hurried to voice amends. “I’m sorry . . .” 

Maz was watching her closely. “That lightsaber was Luke’s. And his father’s before him. And now, it calls to you.” 

“I have to get back to Jakku.” Rey shook her head, as if the simple physical action might somehow clear everything from her memory. 

Maz came closer. “Han told me.” Her voice was gentle now, not at all the hard, sardonic tone she had employed up until this moment. She lifts off her goggles, holding her hand out to Rey and the girl took it, kneeling down before the older humanoid. “Dear child. I see your eyes. You already know the truth. Whomever you’re waiting for on Jakku, they’re never coming back.” 

Tears were beginning to trickle down Rey’s face as she shut her eyes. She’d been so afraid of that truth, held out hope for so long, that hearing Maz confirm what she already believed was too much. 

“But, there’s someone who still could. With your help.” 

Rey sniffles, opening her eyes again and stares at Maz with wonder. There was someone who could still come back to her? What had it meant? 

“The belonging you seek is not behind you. It is ahead.” Maz wisely explains. “I am no Jedi, but I know the Force. It moves through and surrounds every living thing. Close your eyes. Feel it. The light. It’s always been there. It will guide you.” A pause. “The saber. Take it.” 

Rey’s voice strengthened as she wiped away tears, standing up. “I’m never touching that thing again. I don’t want any part of this.” 

Without another word Rey took off running, heading determinedly toward the stairs that beckoned just ahead. Accelerating, BB-8 easily kept pace. Maz watched her go, words failing her and sighed. One could teach knowledge. One could teach skills. One could even, she knew, something of the Force. But patience had to be learned alone. 

It was a very private place on the Finalizer. There was no need to mark it as such. No need for signs or audible warnings or protective devices. Everyone on the ship knew what it was, who it belonged to, and what lay within. None would think of violating the sanctuary. That way lay censure, possibly pain, and quite likely worse. 

The lighting within was subdued. There would not have been much to see even in the presence of brighter illumination. A pair of consoles dominated by red lights flanked the doorway. A single projection console sat in the center, attended by a lone chair. Otherwise the room was sparsely furnished. The individual who claimed the space had no need of the usual accouterments favored by sentient beings. He was content within himself and who he was. 

The alcove where Kylo Ren was sitting and speaking was darker than the rest of the adjoining chambers. He kept it deliberately so, as seemed appropriate for its function. He spoke now in a tone different from the one he usually employed when conversing with others. There were no orders to be issued here, no pathetic underlings to command. The one with whom he was presently communing would understand everything Kylo chose to say, in whatever voice he chose to employ. No need here and now for intimidation, for fear. Kylo Ren spoke, and the object of his words listened in silence. 

“Forgive me. I feel it again. The pull to the light.” 

Shining and bright _she_ was, and it pained him. Entering her mind had been a mistake, hadn’t it? Ever since the lesson, it had appeared to Kylo that he could now live there and experience every single little thing that Nova was experiencing. He battled the light before in his short life but never like this. She seemed to make it worse, letting it be able to grip him by the hand and try to lead him down the path. 

He kept thinking back to those emotions that Nova felt as Snoke spoke to him. She was uncomfortable in her own skin, worried for herself, and she had cared about him. She _actually_ cared about Kylo, and he couldn’t wrap his head around that very thought even though the presence of it hugged his body tightly and made him still in the chamber. Snoke knew it. It’s why he kept her in the room, why he mentioned that feelings is what caused the fall of the Empire. _Sentiment._ A weakness. 

“Supreme Leader senses it.” A pause. “Show me again. The power of the darkness. And I will let nothing stand in our way.” 

Alone in the room, Kylo Ren—saturnine of aspect, lithe of build, tortured of mien, and troubled of eye—gazed at the silent recipient of his confession. 

“Show me, Grandfather, and I will finish what you started.” 

Trembling slightly, he rose from where he had been sitting and strode off. There was no response from the one to whom he had been talking, only silence from the shape that had been the object of Kylo’s fervor; a ghostly, deformed mask that had once belonged to another. To a figure of rumor and legend and fear. Darth Vader. 

On the main bridge of the ship, Kylo stared at Starkiller Base through the viewport, feeling the indestructible, immutable, and alluring clutch at the forefront of his temple. Nova. She was there, with General Hux and he felt great pleasure in it. If he was going to find the droid on Takodana, along with the girl, he wanted to get his own answers from her without Nova’s interference—not that Nova ever was to him, but he just preferred to do this mission alone for his own purposes. 

Kylo imagined the mental hold that Nova and him had like a piece string within the Force. It may get tangled and suffocated, but shall never break. Either one of them could ravel themselves up to be closer or loosen their grip to give them space and time. It was a bond that went both ways, hand in hand, connecting every aspect of the two together in perfect unison. He centers on it, tangling himself into the web and moving adjacent to the young girl that was his novitiate. 

Finally, his perception finds and lands on her. 

Nova stood at the head of the accomplished mass rally next to General Armitage Hux, flanked by the senior officers, all aligned atop a raised platform backed by an enormous crimson and black banner stamped with the insignia of the First Order. 

A thousand or so Stormtroopers and their officers fronted assembled TIE fighters and lesser machines of war. Around them rose the central edifices of Starkiller Base. Towering still higher above the buildings were the snowy crags of the surrounding mountain range that simultaneously shut off and shielded the central portion of the base from the world around it. 

Glorifying in the moment and enhanced by artfully concealed amplification, Hux’s voice boomed across the Troops assembled on the parade ground. 

“Today is the end of the Republic. The end of a regime that acquiesces to disorder. At this very moment, in a system far from here, the New Republic lies to the galaxy while secretly supporting the treachery of the loathsome Resistance.” 

Nova took a side glance to Hux, considering his word but something about them just didn’t sit right with her. It was a strange occurrence to her, felt like she was going to be nauseous but it did her best to shrug off the sensation and hold her chin high to the crisp air. 

“This fierce machine which you have built, upon which we stand, will bring an end to the Senate! To their cherished fleet! All remaining systems will bow to the First Order! And will remember this as the last day of the Republic!”

Turning, Hux solemnly gave the signal as the assembled thousand turned to face the mountainous, snowy landscape. He faced back to the front again, and waited. 

Deep within the mountain, Nova knew the engineers and techs concluded the final firing protocol for the new weapon. She knew little about it herself and even so did Kylo. Hux was the leader of the weapon, in charge of putting it together while Kylo focused on his duties from Snoke and she trained herself to be a fighter. Maybe that was the reason for her discontent, she thought. 

“Fire!” 

The Troops spin on their heels sharply, standing tall and the rally ground was silent. Then, at a great distance, an impossible blast of light shot into the sky. Despite the remoteness of the actual firing zone, the light was so bright that the Troopers had to cover their eyes as their protective masks failed at shutting out the red fire blast. It was followed by a terrible concussive roar as a vast column of atmosphere was displaced. In spite of the distance, everyone was pushed back and many were knocked down by the ground tremor that followed. Airborne creatures by the thousands took flight. 

Having been gathered in stages by an immense array of couples collectors located on the other side of the planet, a tremendously compact volume of a type of dark energy known as quintessence had been accumulated at the center of the planet. Held in place inside a roiling molten metal core by the frozen world’s powerful magnetic field, augmented by the weapons system’s own containment field, it grew until there was nothing like it—nothing natural like it—in this corner of the galaxy. Penetrating to within a predetermined distance of the containment field, an immense hollow cylinder permitted a way out while ensuring that when the weapon was unleashed, gigantic groundquakes would not roil the world’s fragile surface. When the weapons engineers fired the device, a breach was induced in the containment field. At incredible velocity and accelerating exponentially, the concentrated volume of quintessence escaped, transforming as it did so into a state known as phantom energy and following the artificial line of egress that had been provided. 

Hovering in orbit, Kylo watched the released blast of concentrated phantom energy traveling along a perfectly linear path, punching a small Big Rip through hyperspace itself until it left the galaxy. But it never left his senses, it was with him through the Force—him _and_ Nova. They felt how it was traveling than anything ever generated by artificial means, through a torn portion of space-time whose properties were not fully understood, the glowing ball of energy drenching the night sky in red above Republic City. The massive beam branching out into five smaller ones as everyone gazes uncomprehendingly at the inexplicable phenomenon. Space was energized and it was as if a minuscule sun had suddenly appeared from nowhere, heading directly for the world.

People were exclaiming, hearing faint booms of the Hosnian system’s other worlds being seared of life and incidentally obliterating all settlements, installations, and outposts. Terror fell upon all the citizens, knowing they wouldn’t be able to escape the terrible fate that stares them down.

It struck with enough force to penetrate the crush and the mantle. So powerful was the orb of phantom energy that as it dissipated within the planetary core, it blocked the free flow of the elysium. Gravitons that normally moved freely and harmlessly through the planet suddenly were blocked from doing so. Almost immediately, the resulting gravitons flux released enough heat to ignite the core, turning the planet into what astrophysicists called a pocket nova. 

In its wake, the detonation left behind a blazing, spherical mass. The home of the Republic had become a new binary system: one utterly devoid of life. 

Nova blinked her eyes close, a single tear escaping from the right, the last indelible moments of the Republic were rushing through her as if she had been there and experienced it for herself: the ripping screams, spouses holding each other dearly to give little comfort, the last thing them seeing is the huge blinding light which scorched them even before impact. It was too much to bear. Tearing herself away and leaving the platform quickly in a brisk walk, Nova let her feet carry her to wherever they were leading her, paying no mind. 

During her walk, she came to a slow halt to sniffle and got the sudden rushing feeling that she wasn’t alone. Nova peers around her as she entered the base, not seeing anyone since they were all at the rally and wondered what the feeling was. She quickly uses her arm to wipe away her tears, blinking sheepishly repeatedly and focuses for a good minute as she takes in the apprehension of being spied on, of being heard. 

Nothing. 

Confusion reigned until she monitored and detected the explanation. An explanation was that robust, glacial, and yet comforting. Hesitantly, she turns and sees the dark figure of Kylo looking at her, studying her curiously. She takes a step back, startled by his sudden arrival then moves back to where she was, being quite relieved. He had left on the Finalizer, she saw it happen, so why was he here? What was the purpose? Nova thought about it, bewildered by the strange occurrence and squinted her eyes to inspect him to see if he were real. 

“What are you doing back here?” She ponders.

“Interesting,” Kylo’s modified voice comes through, hands behind his back, ideas swirling about in his head. “You’re not here, and I’m not there. But we’re together, like space is inconsequential.” 

Nova shifted on her feet, feeling a bit discombobulated. “What is this?” 

“Can’t be Similfuturus, the effort would kill you.” He was puzzled, wondering for himself as he took a few steps closer towards her silhouette. 

He had reentered his chambers after the display of Starkiller’s weapon, after first handedly experiencing the destruction and Nova’s potent emotions. It made him retreat to the solitude of his room, allowing himself to have a moment of peace and to meditate. Kylo called back to his grandfather, channeling the darkness to return to him and yanked for it within the Force until something tugged back. It was warm, gleaming, and benevolent. Didn’t take him long to know it was Nova. 

Kylo gazed off to the side, seeing her sulking body take two steps before freezing in place and trying to dry her tears. He never saw her cry before and it left an icy chill in his chest, the urge to reach for her was alerting and demanding. Luckily, his head didn’t follow his heart. Too much of a burden to feel than to think. And when she turned and saw him standing there, he knew that she was at ease. He felt it. Sensed it. 

“This is something else . . .” His words drift off. 

“Ms. Hux!” Armitage draws Nova’s attention away from Kylo, seeing the ginger officer coming near her. “Quite a spectacular display of the First Order’s power, wouldn’t you say? I don’t blame you leaving in such a hurry. It truly was a sight for sore eyes.” He spoke with attentiveness. 

Nova nods, unable to find words and forces a smile on her face. She turns back, wanting to see Kylo but he is nowhere. Her eyes scan around once more, lingering, waiting for him show again. 

“Ms. Hux,” Armitage calls her back and she shakes her head, wondering if she just imagined Kylo and focuses back on the officer again. “Come. We must get ready for when Ren comes back.” 

His arm is placed on the small of her back, directing her deeper into the base.


	6. Wretched

The crowd of visitors who had filed out of the old castle had turned their eyes to the sky. A light had appeared there, a new star bright enough to be visible in the daytime. There was much speculation as to its case. Someone suggested that a star had gone nova, but there were no nearby white dwarfs in the section of sky in question. The stellar apparition was inexplicable, which in turn led to fear and uncertainty among those gazing upward. 

Han stood in front, next to Chewie, and he had his own theory of what was happening in the chosen corner of the cosmos. Before he could voice an opinion, his fears were confirmed by someone that was running up to him. 

“It was the Republic. The First Order, they’ve done it.” A concerned Finn looked past him. “Where’s Rey?” 

That immediately changed Han’s focus. “Thought she was with you.” 

A voice interrupted them, familiar yet now turned uncommonly forceful. The men see Maz approaching. 

“You three come with me. There’s something you must see.” 

The subterranean corridor in the castle was one Maz had visited not long before. It was also a place to which she had not expected to return to for some time. Circumstances, however, had changed. 

“I’ve had this for ages.” A familiar door opened to admit her and those behind her. Dark, treasure filled, and in the distant dark, a box. “Kept it locked away.”

From the box she removed a lightsaber. Finn eyed it uncertainly, but even in the poor light, Han recognized it immediately. Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber. 

“Where’d you get that?” Han demanded. 

“A good question for another time.” Surprising them all, she handed the weapon not to Han or Chewbacca, but to Finn. “Your friend is in grave danger. Take it, and find Rey.” 

Finn stared at the device. It felt comfortable in his hand. Lighter than a blaster. It was almost as if it belonged with him, and deserved to be with him. 

Something potent and loud slammed into the castle, causing dust and rock to fall from the ceiling. 

“Those beats,” Maz said. “They’re here.” 

Overwhelmed and exhausted both physically and mentally, Rey finally slowed to a halt. Running solved nothing. Besides, she had nowhere to run to, and she could not run from herself. A familiar electronic chip made her turn. BB-8 was there, having followed her, and beeping inquisitive. She was far too tired to acknowledge the little droid’s concern. 

“What are you doing?” She replied, gesturing. “You have to go back. I’m leaving.” More beeping and she could only shake her head as she kneels before him. “ BB-8, you have to get back. You’re too important. They’ll help you to fulfill your mission, more than I ever could. I’m sorry.” 

She would have continued but for the thrum overhead that drowned out her words as well as BB-8’s startled beeping. The fleet of First order ships thundered from above, dropping toward the castle. The castle where her friends still were. Fear instantly tugged at her heart, making it beat profoundly and boom between her eardrums. 

The group of four began running out of the storage room, heading down the corridor of the castle to hurry up the staircase until they heard a bang, seeing planks of wood tumbling down the steps. They were floorboards, warning them that they were being searched for. 

“Is there another way out of here?” Han peers down to Maz. 

“No, there’s not.” She says simply. 

Floorboards clatter from above them, spraying down dust and Finn places the lightsaber at his side, lifting the blaster rifle that still hung around his body, aiming it at the oncomers. Han then rests his hand on the muzzle, lowering it down to the floor. 

“What are you doing?” Finn whispers to him. 

Clattering footsteps of a Trooper squad comes down with their own rifle blasters, drawn and aimed. The leader takes charge up in front, ordering them to put their weapons down. 

“We’re taking you into custody by the order of Supreme Leader Snoke.” He announces. 

“Snoke, uh.” Han questions and glances over his shoulder to Chewbacca who held his bowcaster. “Do you know a Smoke?” The Wookie plays along, pondering. 

“Snoke!” The squad leader corrects him. “Supreme Leader Snoke!”

Han then quirks a brow, resting his hands on his hips. “What makes him Supreme?” 

Finn’s hands gripped the rifle tighter and the Trooper noticed, yelling at him to put it down on the ground. Han then played off of it, buying them more time. 

“What did he . . . Is this something he did?” His thumb jabs in Finn’s direction and the younger man gives him a perplexed look though he wasn’t paying attention. “This is . . . Is this about the Stormtrooper boots?” 

“What?” Finn utters and Han peers to him. “That’s how you knew?” 

The Trooper had enough, taking a step closer to them. “Weapons down!” He warns. 

“Here.” Han reaches for Finn’s gun, trying to pry it out of his arms. 

“What _are_ you doing? That’s _my_ gun.” Finn bickers, now getting at the ruse the old war hero was putting on. “I’m not gonna give you my gun. What if I need my gun?” 

At last, Han freed the gun from Finn and tossed it on the ground in front of the squadron. “Done.” 

“And the other one.” The Trooper motions to Chewbacca. “The hairy one.” 

“Don’t call him that.” Han shakes a finger at the leader before telling Chewie, “Put it down.” The Wookie listens. 

Finn then shakes his head, playing on the emotion of finding this to be a complete waste of time. “That’s smart. _Real_ smart, Solo.”

The Trooper then spots Han’s blaster on his side. “And your blaster.” 

Han looks down then back up. “My blaster?” 

Finn then got a feeling and it was swelling inside of him, building to a powerful sense and he secretly smiled to himself. He needed to get to Rey, and fast. That was the only thing he was focused on and with this next part, he surely would. 

“Give him the blaster.” Finn urges Han on. 

“Um,” Han mumbles, “it’s broken.” 

The squadron leader drew closer, about to speak before the ceiling from above them got bombarded, knocking out the Troopers and barricading Maz, Han, Chewie, and Finn all down below. Underneath rubble, they were buried. 

Racing through the trees and back toward the castle, Rey slowed at the stop of a slight rise. Wide eyed, she could only hope that her friends had managed to flee the complex before the attack began in earnest. Swooping TIE fighters were methodically reducing the stone walls and towers to dust, while others strafed smugglers and traders who were frantically running for cover. Their panicked flight was futile, as they were quickly intercepted by squads of Stormtroopers who had landed nearby. 

Besides her, a tree erupted in flame as splintered branches flew. One of the patrolling squads of Troopers had spotted her and opened fire. Taking cover, she drew her blaster, aimed, and pulled the trigger which made the gun click. The moment of panic that ensued when it failed to fire vanished when she remembered to slip off the safety. Another shot at her and she flinches, activating the weapon. She shoots, taking out one Stormtrooper and fires at the others to try and ward them off. She started back into the woods and away from the scene of combat as they fired shots after, BB-8 at her side. 

“You have to keep going. Stay out of sight,” she told the droid, kneeling after she shot down a pursuing Stormtrooper. “I’ll try to fight them off.” A querulous beeping prompted a brave, defiant reply: “I hope so, too.” 

Rey stands, rushing away from BB-8 as he rolled at max capacity to put distance between her and him. 

The cloaked figure of Kylo Ren emerged and strode forward to join the battle, walking through the debris of the castle. A Stormtrooper hurried up to him, reporting. “Sir, the droid was spotted moving west. With a girl.” 

At this Kylo said nothing, but instead looked sharply in the indicated direction before heading off. 

Having worked their way through the mounds of debris, Han and the others kept to the cover of collapsed stone walls as they took stock of their surroundings. Han had his blaster, firing at a Stromtrooper who noticed them then aimed backwards without looking, shooting another. Chewbacca was lucky enough to have found his bowcaster, arming himself with it as Han urged him to join in on the fight. 

Maz had turned to Finn who was crouching down to avoid the blast fire that rained in every which way from Stormtroopers and TIE fighters. “Rey and BB-8, they need you! Now, go!” 

He looked back the way they had come. “Lost my rifle. I need a weapon.” 

Displaying surprising strength for one so small, Maz grabbed his wrist that was absentmindedly holding the lightsaber and raised it up to him to see it. “You have one!” 

He stared down at her, then at the saber. When had he taken the old ceremonial weapon from his side? Suddenly, that familiar sensation came coursing back into his bones and it gave him strength. He had never held a lightsaber in his life nor did he know anyone who had except for Kylo Ren, but if Maz Kanata and his own instinct had that kind of confidence in him then it must have meant something. Finn activated the device, admiring the lethal beam as it hummed a tune. 

It made an excellent target for the Stormtroopers who opened fire on them. Han and Chewbacca returned the fire. No one noticed the Troopers who had come up behind them, except Finn. Charging, he surprised one Trooper with the glowing blade of the lightsaber, then another by stabbing him through the chest. A third came at him with an electrifying riot baton, making a stabbing gesture but Finn blocks with the saber, being pressed back and blocks the baton again and again until he returns blows. Despite lack of any training with a lightsaber, Finn was athletic and courageous. In tandem with such traits, the saber made him a formidable fighter. 

The Trooper who had engaged Finn was big, strong, and agile. Finn realized the fight would have long since been over if not for the Trooper’s regard for the lethal potential of the lightsaber. That didn’t stop him from finally locking Finn to the ground with a powerful hit to the chest which sent him flying back onto the ground, getting the air knocked from his lungs and the blue blade disabling from the lightsaber. The Trooper stalked, looming over him and raising his own weapon for a killing strike. Violently, he’s shot and the impact had him do a flip in the air before collapsing in a heap. 

Rolling over, a relieved Finn saw Han racing toward him, bowcaster in hand, with Chewbacca not far behind. The older man reached down and an unexpectedly powerful grip helped Finn to his feet. 

“You okay, Big Deal?” 

Finn had to grin at that. “Thanks.” 

They were interrupted by the sudden appearance of a dozen Stormtroopers, acting in concert and with weapons aimed, atop a nearby mass of debris. 

“Don’t move.” The leader Trooper ordered. 

Surrounded by blasters, they had no choice but to comply. One Trooper made a beeline for the lightsaber, trying to take it from Finn who held it tightly as if his life depended on it. But out of his grasp it went, and Finn scowled. Han’s blaster and Chewie’s bowcaster were taken as well as a second squad of Troopers appeared behind them. 

“Hands on heads. Let’s go.” The lead Trooper gestured in the direction of a parked transport. “Try anything and I’ll shoot your leg off.” 

They didn’t try anything. There is a time to take chances and a time to wait for opportunity, Finn knew. This was one of them. He felt something amidst.

In the sky, there’s a familiar noise and the Stormtroopers scurried to have cover and got ready. The three remove their hands from their heads, a squadron of X-wings on the horizon accompanied by other attack craft came in low and fast, roaring over the lake and the forest as they blew apart the First Order ships. A bewildered Chewbacca barked his surprise at the unexpected appearance of the non-Republic ships. 

“It’s the Resistance.” Han remarks, hope surging through him. 

Marked in black, one particular X-wing swooped in dangerously low, attacking at treetop level. Blast after blast took out parked TIE fighters, clusters of Troopers, and support vehicles. Whoever was piloting was skilled enough to fire repeatedly without wasting a single energy burst which gave Han, Chewbacca, and Finn time to retrieve their weapons. 

Reaching for a Trooper’s blaster, Finn hesitated. He couldn’t find the lightsaber and felt his intuition take over, calming himself down and allowed it to guide him. It took only a moment to find the dropped weapon. Turning his gaze skyward after shooting two Stormtroopers, he followed the black stained X-wing as it looped around in an impossibly tight arc, come back for another run 

“That’s one helluva pilot!” He commented, glancing at Han with joy but it was suddenly short lived as he felt a coldness in his veins. “Rey . .” Finn whispers, his eyes lingering to the forest. 

As the alien woods closed in around her, Rey jumped at every sound, glancing sharply at every wind rustled branch and falling leaf. Holding tightly to the blaster, she held off firing defensively in the direction of every movement for fear of alerting her pursuers to her location. Hearing something just ahead, she slowed and brought the blaster up, eyes shifting all around as she backs away. A figure stepped out from behind the massive boulder where she had just been hiding. 

It was the nightmare, and he was wielding a lightsaber unlike any she had ever seen in the stories she had read. Its beam was an intense, burning red like a controlled flame, and near the hilt, a pair of shorter beams shot outward, perpendicular to the main shaft. 

She fired, again and again. Each shot from her blaster he deflected with the lightsaber’s beam. Almost as if it were a game, she thought in terror as she continued to fire. She kept on backing up, stumbling over her feet until she quickly spotted a higher level and climbed to get out of being cornered. He follows and she fires desperately, him still deflecting the bolts. He was playing with her. 

Until, evidently, he tired of it. He raised his left hand, held it toward her, palm outward. As she inhaled sharply, her hand froze on the blaster and rocketed behind her back. Rey tried to turn, to run, but her body refused to respond. She could only stand there among the trees, taking in slow, measured breaths, as he came towards her. 

“The girl I’ve heard so much about.”

Halting an arm’s reach, he studied her from behind his mask. Dressed like Nova, but anyone from Jakku could dress like that. She had hazel eyes like Nova, but they were filled with fear and anyone could have those color of eyes—hell, even Kylo’s were though the hues of brown drowned out the green. It wasn’t until his eyes landed on the leather cuff worn on her right wrist that made his doubts teeter; the exact same one like Nova’s, just brown. 

_No._ Kylo refused to believe it. Whoever this girl was, she must’ve taken it or found one that was similar to it. Or something. There was just no way that she could be Nova’s sister, no possible way that Nova would leave the First Order for her after everything. Leave . . . 

His thought drifts off to focus back on the main point at hand. She had been seen with the BB unit and it was nowhere with her. 

“The droid.” He begins to circle her, peering into her face, her eyes. Then the red lightsaber he held came up close to her flesh, close enough to cast a red glow on her skin. “Where is it?” 

If this girl was in fact Nova’s sister, he knew that she wouldn’t be too fond of the idea of him using such scare tactics. Reluctantly, Kylo shuts down and belts his lightsaber as he contemplates his immoible captive. Standing in front of her again, he reached up slowly and began searching her mind. Rey scrunches up her face and shuts her eyes, straining with resistance and suffering from it. If only she could get a hand free, a leg even but no part of her body responded to her commands. 

Surprised by what he was finding, Kylo lowered his hand. Relieved of the mental intrusion, she sucked in great, long draughts of air. His brows drew together and a reluctance to believe his own findings colored his comments. 

“It is true, then. You _are_ the sister of Nova.” 

_How did he know that?_ She agonized as she stared back at him. Surely she hadn’t thought about it. She’d tried to keep her mind blank, her memory locked, and still he had wormed his way in. _Wait, how does he know about Nova?_ A newer question arises, one that interested and scared her at the same time. 

He lifts his hand anew. This time the pain of trying to stave him off brought tears streaming down her face. He was within her mind and her thoughts, and there was nothing she could do to keep him out. To resist. But she kept trying, trying . . . 

“You met the traitor who served under me. A minor annoyance grown larger than he deserves. You find him more than tolerable.” He drew back slightly, bemused. “You’ve even begun to care for him. A weakness, such a distraction.” 

Reasonably, Rey got the awareness that he wasn’t just speaking to her but to himself as well. It didn’t take a genius to pick up on it. He cared for someone too but someone once told him that it proves to be a feckless thing—a hindrance. 

“The map.” He murmured softly, his interest peeking once again. “You’ve _seen_ it.”

She could hardly swallow as she strained to pull away from him, anything to pull away, to get him out. She wanted to scream but he would not allow it. 

Kylo felt the presence of Troopers coming his way and he ceased his probing, stepping away from the girl. He heard the nearby explosions and saw the ruined castle in the distance as three Stormtroopers came toward him through the trees. 

“Sir, Resistance fighters.” The one informs him. “We need more Troops.” 

Kylo considered. Though he was not technically in charge of battlefield decisions, no officer would attempt to overrule any decision he chose to make. 

“Pull the division out. Forget the droid. We have what we need.” 

The Stormtrooper saluted, leaving while the other two linger a moment to look on in fascination as Kylo walked up behind the young woman standing motionless before him. With a gesture of his hand, she collapsed on the ground in a state of oblivion. 

The black marked X-wing swooped low to take out yet another TIE fighter still on the ground. The retreating Stormtroopers, rushing to board their transports, were easy targets for the castle’s survivors. 

Two, running from the furious defenders, were taken out by Finn, using the recovered blaster. As he looked around for more stragglers, he felt a disturbance and his attention was drawn to a singular figure striding through the edge of the forest. Kylo Ren. Behind him were two Troopers and he caught sight of and identified the burden they were carrying into a shuttle. Finn’s spirits plunged. 

“No!” 

Ignoring the fire of retreating Stormtroopers, paying no attention to the blasts that gouged the dirt around him, Finn raced toward the shuttle only to watch helplessly as it lifted off and rose toward the clouds. 

“No, no! No! No!” 

Irrationally, he tried to follow the dark spot as it rose higher into the sky, running beneath it until it shrank to a dot and then finally disappeared. 

“ _Rey!_ ” 

Ascending, other First Order ships formed up in the wake of the shuttle, creating a tight escort to seal it off from any pursuit. Utilizing oculars far more sensitive than those of any human, BB-8 tracked the battle group until it has receded even beyond his sight, lost at the edge of space. The droid paused for a moment, pondering. 

Out of breath, tears glistening on his cheeks, Finn slowed as he ran alongside Han. 

“He took her!” Finn managed to gasp. “He took her. Did you see that? She’s gone, Rey’s gone.” 

Reaching out, Han bats him aside without meeting the younger man’s gaze. “Yeah, yeah. I know.” 

Finn stopped, stunned, his eyes fixed on Han’s back. He was too shocked to know how to respond. As he stood staring, he noticed Maz a short distance away, speaking to BB-8. 

“Yes, it’s true, they have Rey now,” Maz told the astromech and Finn watched the droid roll off. “Looks like I’ve got some cleaning up to do, hmm?” Then the diminutive smuggler looked up at him and smiled in satisfaction. “I see something else now.” 

“See what?” Finn asks her. 

“I see the eyes of a warrior.” 

Han waited until the Resistance transport had landed completely before approaching the main access. His attention fixed on the portal, he looked away only to nod down at the round figure of BB-8, who had rolled up besides him. The droid’s presence confirmed Han’s expectations. He would be surprised if either of them had guessed wrong as to who was going to exit the transport first. However, he was willing to be surprised. 

He wasn’t. 

Husband and wife stood regarding each other for the first time in years. Amid the smoke and drifting embers, neither said a word and they didn’t have to. Emerging from behind the figure in the portal, C-3PO walked out into the scorched field before Han. 

“My goodness! Han Solo! It is I, See-Threepio! You probably don’t recognize me because of the red arm.” Turning to the woman, he continued excitedly. “Look who it is, did you see who . . .” His words drift off once he realizes that he interrupted their reunion. “Uh. Hmm. Excuse me, Prin—General. Sorry. Come along, BB-8.” 

The two droids moved off. Chewbacca found an excuse to study the configuration of a grove of nearby trees that had somehow survived the recent conflagration. 

Breaking the awkward silence, Han finally spoke to Leia. 

“You changed your hair.” 

Her gaze dropped from his face. “Same jacket.” 

“No, new jacket.” 

Unable to stand it a moment longer, Chewie gave in to emotion. Stepping forward, he wrapped Leia in a warm embrace that momentarily resulted in her disappearance within a mass of fur. Letting her go, he moaned a few words that contained far more depth of feeling before boarding the transport. 

Left alone again, Han had to tell her what ate him up upside. “I saw him. Leia, I saw our son. He was here.” 

Hearing this, she closed her eyes softly. They let the silence take them once more. 

Nova was in the training center, in simulation, trying to battle the holographic fighters and it was as if all her training and learning had been erased from her. She was proving to be fruitless, barely making any progress on the fighters and kept on getting poked, hit, and sliced at from the various weapons that came her way. The interactive weapons proved to be nonlethal to real living beings but that didn’t mean that they didn’t hurt as if they were. 

Her hands were gripped tight onto a quarterstaff that she had taken from the one man she had knocked out with a leg swipe. She swung with fierceness, maneuvering through and batting her attackers in the faces, guts, knees, and had even taken on a few blocked blows. Nova went to knock one but the figure shifted hastily with their own quarterstaff and whacked her across the back which caused her yell in hurt and anger, taking stumbling steps forwards. Snarling, she gets a new adjusted hold on the quarterstaff as her body turns about and tries to lunge. The hologram got the best of her, foreseeing her attack and rockets the front-end of her shaft away and sweeps her legs out from underneath her. Down she falls onto her back, settling onto the ground with a hard hit as her weapon bounces out of her hand and twirls across the floor. 

The girl groans, coughing to try and capture her breath that was desperately wanting to escape her lungs. Her brain was foggy and she mentally cursed at herself because she knew that her thoughts were all on the mysterious girl with the BB unit and Finn, and now, Han Solo. The mysterious girl that was more than likely her baby sister Rey. Nova’s fighting ability had been compromised, rendered limited. How could she possibly try to do anything else with something like that on her mind? She couldn’t, and she was naive to think so. 

The holographic man stood over, staring her down and lifting his staff up, looming it over her face. Her heartbeat slowed as she focused on the end, seeing how it backs away and up into the air as he anchored up to strike her in a stab. Quickly, she rolls over as he hits the ground where she had been lying and brings back her left leg, kicking him harshly in the kneecap which sent a splintering crack throughout the room. He drops down, his own weapon falling and she grabs it with ease, standing up and with two hands on the staff, she swings the front to the left side of his face. He blocks with his hand, holding the end and trying to fend her off but her anger is taking over now and she feels empowered. With her left hand on the back grip, she forces the end downwards with a robust thrust, winding it under and hooking his jaw which shoots back his head and his body follows in pursuit before pixeling out.

She had reached in herself, pulling out all the bad and torment that happened to her and though it may have not cleared her mind, it did cloud what was there moments before. It’s what provided her with her graceful skills once again in order to finish off the duel. 

Like clockwork, Nova felt the electrical energy through the Force that belonged to one person in particular and whirls around, aiming the end of her quarterstaff at his throat. Heavily breathing, she scowls at his mask only to be met with her reflection in his visor. For a moment, she barely recognized herself but that was a complete stupid realization to be met with. She’s an orphaned scavenger, something that childhood made her out to be: dynamic, defensive, intimidating, and a survivor. 

“Still not using the Force, I see.” Kylo remarks, paying no mind to the staff that was just inches away from his clad and cowl covered neck. 

“I see you came back rather early.” Nova shoots back at him, the haze in her mind lifting like morning fog from a river. And instead of the sun rising, it was the thoughts of the girl. “Did you find the droid?” 

Without a beat, he says, “No droid, but I have something better.” 

“Better than the droid that has a map to Luke Skywalker?” Nova knits her brows together. She knew that he was telling her the truth, but it rubbed her the wrong way. What exactly could have been more important than the piece of the map that the droid had stored in his compartment? 

The only thought that came to mind was Finn, for betraying the Order but even that didn’t make sense. Kylo had been searching for the last piece of the map that displayed where his uncle had wandered off to. Surely Finn wouldn’t be better than what that droid could’ve been. Nova rethinks again, conjuring up the many outcomes and lowers the staff, a gut feeling taking her over and it was overwhelming. 

Her eyes shift back up to his mask. “The girl saw the map, didn’t she?” It really wasn’t a question, it was more a clarification of the situation. 

No answer. Just a nod. 

“She’s here . . .” Nova drops the staff, her hands getting sweaty and her body undergoes chills as her body heat rises from nervousness. “You . . you brought her here?” 

“Certainly I wasn’t going to stay on Takodana just to extract the information from her.” 

“I need to see her.” 

“No,” Kylo instantly says, and it made Nova double blink to register the quickness of the response. “At least not until I get what I’ve been looking for.” 

“Ben, please,” Nova stepped closer to him and his body stiffened. “If she’s really . . . If she _is_ my sister then I—”

“ _What?_ ” His voice sounded delicate, bordering sad and it had been the first she’s ever heard that tone; holding desperation and sorrowful.

“I won’t be alone anymore,” Nova admits, her chest feeling lighter from getting it out in the open and not holding it in anymore. “I get what’s left of my family back, and no matter what she may think of me, I get to know that she’s alive and safe.” 

_Wretched._ The emotion swelled off of Kylo as he began leaving the center without so much a reaction or a word. She dropped her gaze, staring at her leather cuff and slightly twisted her wrist around to get a full look of it. Was Kylo upset with her because she was getting in the way of him finding the map to his uncle? Or was it because she was too strung up on her sister when his own relationship with his parents wasn’t good? 

Whatever the latter was, the only thing that stuck with Nova was that the girl who could be her sister was only a few meters away from where she stood. 

D’Qar’s terrain was green and verdant, with flourishing trees that put those on most worlds to shame in size and appearance. The Resistance squadrons put down between the immense, unique growths. Grassy mounds camouflage hangars and other structures. Resistance techs were everywhere in evidence, repairing damaged craft, running cables, cleaning and refurbishing. The base was a hive of activity, nearly all of which was hidden from above. One restoration team was hard at work on the parked Millennium Falcon, an ugly duckling among the sleek X-wings and support craft. 

The sight of a singular figure on the cockpit of an X-wing that had just landed sent BB-8 rolling at maximum speed, nearly knocking Finn down as it shot past him in its haste to reach the fighter with the black insignia. Its canopy was already open; the pilot had removed his helmet and was chatting with one of the techs as he descended from the cockpit. 

Poe Dameron. 

No wonder, Finn thought, he and the others had marveled at the pilot’s skill during the course of the counterattack at Maz’s castle. This was clearly, indisputably, the best pilot in the Resistance. His presence, however, defied reason. 

Finn just stared at him, hardly believing what he was seeing. 

Kneeling and chatting with BB-8, the pilot was nodding at something the droid was saying. It took him a moment to look up and place to his left. The expression on his face when he recognized Finn was no less astonished than that of the ex-Trooper. Smiling, he rose and ran for Finn. 

“Buddy!” 

“Poe Dameron, you’re alive?” Finn meets him halfway as Poe throws him into an embrace. 

“So are you!” Poe countered. 

Finn lets him go, studying him. “What happened? I found the wreckage, looked for you before it got swallowed by the sand.” 

“I got thrown from the crash. I woke up at night. No you. No ship. Nothing. Went looking—in the wrong but rather good direction. Got picked up by some trader on Jakku, she was nice and kinda a feisty one but hey, who doesn’t fall for those types? Am I right?” He grinned. 

“You have no idea.” A slow smile spread across Finn’s face and his eyes twinkled, thinking about Rey. 

A plaintive beep caused Poe to turn and look down. “BB-8 says that you saved him.” 

“No, no, no. It wasn’t just me.” The ex-Trooper tried to say but Poe continued on. 

“You completed my mission, Finn. I—that’s my jacket.” Poe paused, seeing how he was wearing it. 

Finn started to slip out of it. “Oh, sorry.” 

“No, no, no. Keep it. It suits you.” His tone turned somber. “You’re a good man, Finn. The Resistance needs the help of more like you.” 

“Poe, I need your help.” 

The pilot shrugged. “Anything.” 

“I need to see General Organa,” Finn told him. “Can you manage that?” 

Buried deep in the native vegetation, the base command center was staffed by guards at multiple levels. The readily recognized Poe, however, had no difficulty proceeding deeper into the complex of bringing his friend with him. 

When they arrived at the conference room, they found Leia conversing earnestly with a number of senior Resistance officers. From his training, Finn recognized among them the prominent admirals Statura and Ackbar. All looked over as the two younger men entered. Without hesitating, Poe moved directly to Leia. 

“General Organa. Sorry to interrupt”—he indicated his companion—“this is Finn. He needs to talk to you.” 

She turned directly to Finn. “And I need to talk to him.” She took his hand into hers and he mused as he gazed back at her, dark eyes that had seen too much. “That was incredibly brave what you did. Renouncing the First Order, saving this man’s life . . .” 

He had grown immune to compliments he didn’t think he deserved. What was important was that every passing moment had become precious to him. Otherwise he could never have imagined interrupting someone like General Organa. 

“Thank you, M’am. But a friend of mine was taken prisoner.” 

She nodded understandingly. “Han told me about the girl. I’m sorry.” 

That startled Finn, but before he could comment further, Poe jumped in. 

“Finn’s familiar with the weapon that destroyed the Hosnian system. He worked on the base.” 

Leia’s excitement was palpable. “We’re desperate for anything you can tell us.” 

“That’s where my friend was taken. I’ve got to get there fast.”

“And I will do everything that I can to help but first you need to tell us all you know.” She paused, lost in thought. 

Finn then got an inkling. 

“The girl,” she inquired, her voice strengthening. “What’s her name?” 

Finn struggled to contain his emotions. “Rey.”

In the main conference room, C-3PO worked on BB-8’s flank while Han and several officers looked on. Complying with the protocol droid’s orders, BB-8 obediently opened a locked and sealed port on its side. Reaching in, C-3PO removed a tiny device. Turning, he inserted it into a matching plot in the multi-sided table-projector that dominated the center of the room. Immediately, a three dimensional map filled the space above the flat topped apparatus with stars, nebulae, and other stellar phenomena. Leia studied the display intently. But though her eyes roved knowledgeable through the compacted cosmos, she failed to find what she was looking for. Her dissatisfaction was unmistakable. 

“General, I regret to inform you, but this map recovered from BB-8 is only partially complete. And even worse, it matches no charted system on record. We simply do not have enough information to locate Master Luke.”

“I can’t believe I was so foolish to think that I could just find Luke and bring him home.” She frowns. 

Han moved toward her. “Leia . . .”

She growled at him. “Don’t do that.” 

It stopped him cold. “Do what?” 

Her voice was flat. “Anything.” Whirling, she stomped off. More than a little bewildered, he followed. Though he caught up to her easily, she didn’t stop, nor did she look in his direction. 

“I’m trying to be helpful.” He told her. 

She continued to march forward, her gaze set straight ahead down she began down steps. “When did that ever help? And don’t say the Death Star.” 

He sighs and stepped out in front of her to block her path. When he spoke again, his tone softened until he was almost pleading—as much as Han Solo was capable of doing. 

“Listen to me, will ya? _Please_?” The change in tone did more to mollify her than anything else. She eyes him. “I know every time you . . . Every time you look at me, you’re reminded of him. So I stayed away.” 

She stared at him, shaking her head slowly. “That’s what you think? That I don’t want to be reminded of him, that I want to forget him? I want him back.” 

“He’s gone, Leia. He was always drawn to the dark side. There was nothing more we could have done.” His final words were the hardest to get out. “There’s too much Vader in him.”

“That’s why I wanted him to train with Luke,” Leia said. “I just never should have sent him away. That’s when I lost him. When I lost you both.” 

Han dipped his head. “We both had to deal with it in our own way.” He shrugged. “I went back to the only thing I was ever any good at.” 

“We both did,” Leia admitted. 

He met her eyes steadily. “We lost our son. Forever.”

Leia bit her lower lip, refusing to concede. “No. It was Snoke. He seduced our son to the dark side.” 

Han drew back slightly, thinking back to the castle and the Stormtroopers. “Snoke?” 

She nodded. “He knew our child would be strong with the Force. That he was born with equal potential for good or evil.” 

“You knew this from the beginning? Why didn’t you tell me?” 

She sighed sadly. “Many reasons. I was hoping that I was wrong, that it wasn’t true. I hoped I could sway him, turn him away from the dark side, without having to involve you.” A small smile appeared. “You had—you have—wonderful qualities, Han, but patience and understanding were never among them. I was afraid that your reactions would only drive him farther to the dark side. I thought I could shield him from Snoke’s influence and you from what was happening.” Her voice dropped. “It’s clear now that I was wrong.”

He had trouble believing that he was hearing. “So Snoke was watching our son?” 

“Always,” she told him. “Even before I realized he was manipulating everything, pulling our son toward the dark side. But nothing is impossible, Han. We can still save him. If anyone, it’s you.” 

He wanted to laugh derisively but kept his tongue bit. If Luke couldn’t reach him, how can I?” 

“Luke is a Jedi. You’re his father.” A look then crosses her face. “There’s still light in him, I know it. There’s been a shift, I felt it. An awakening within him. Where there is a light, there is hope.”


	7. Compassion

The complex restraining apparatus held Rey upright against an angled platform in the cell. She woke slowly. Disoriented, at first she thought she was alone. Her oversight was understandable, since the other person in the holding area did not move, did not make a sound, and at times scarcely seemed to breathe. 

Though startled by his unsettlingly silent presence, she took a moment to take stock of her surroundings. They were as different as could be imagined from her previous ones. The last thing she remembered was the confrontation in the forest on Takodana, the sounds of battle, and sending away the droid BB-8. That, and then the mind probe. The pain. Her efforts to shut it out, and the contemptuous ease with which her mental defenses had been brushed aside. Even now, there was a lingering ache at the back of her eyes. 

The forest was gone. So was Maz’s castle. Bereft of a point of reference, she had no choice but to ask. 

“Where am I?” 

“You’re my guest.” In Kylo Ren’s voice there was an unexpected gentleness. Not quite sympathy, but something less than the hostility with which he had confronted her in the forest. 

With an ease that was more frightening than any physical approach, he waved casually in her direction. A couple of clicks, and the restraints fell away from her arms. She tried to take the demonstration in stride as she rubbed her wrists. The last thing she wanted was for him to think he could intimidate her any more than he already had. 

“Where are the others?” 

He sniffed disdainfully. “You mean the murders, traitors, and thieves you call friends? You will be relieved to hear I have no idea.” 

She stared at him. Though at the moment he was calm, she could not escape the feeling that a wrong word, an unsatisfactory response, might set him off. _Ask him how he knows about Nova_ , she told herself. 

He looked at her as if she had just spoken aloud. For all the chance she had of hiding her emotions from him, she realized, she might as well have voiced her thoughts. 

“Why does that concern you?” He murmured. 

Her true self got the better of her and she replied tactlessly, despite the danger. “When you’re being hunted by a creature in a mask, wouldn’t you want to know how they know of your missing family member?” 

She had a moment to ponder his possible reaction and to fear it. But he did not do what she expected. Instead, he drew close to her and stood. “Tell me about the droid.” 

She swallowed. “He’s a BB unit with a selenium drive and a thermal hyperscan vindicator, internal self-correcting gyro—”

“I am familiar with general droid technical specifications. I don’t need to acquire one. What I want is located in its memory. It’s carrying a section of a navigational chart. And we have the rest, recovered from the archives of the Empire. But we need the last piece, and somehow, _you_ convinced the droid to show it to you. No doubt Nova taught you to be so kind and understanding before she was taken from Jakku. Must’ve played a part in it.” 

She looked away. How did he know that? By the same means he had used to learn everything else? 

“I know you’ve seen the map,” he repeated. “That’s all I need. Then you can go.” 

Her muscles tightened. “You don’t need me to tell you anything.” 

“True.” He almost signed. “I would have preferred to avoid this. Despite what you may believe, it gives me no pleasure.” 

She knew that trying to resist him physically would not only be useless but would likely result in unpleasantness of a kind she preferred not to imagine. So she remained motionless and silent, her arms at her sides, as his hand rose toward her face. As she trained to resist the probe, he investigated her mind, he spoke softly. 

“You’ve been so lonely,” he utters as he searched for what he needed. “So afraid to leave Jakku in case Nova or your parents came back for you. At night, desperate to sleep, you’d imagine an ocean. I can see it . . . I can see the island.” 

Tears were streaming down her face from the effort she was making to withstand him. Increasingly desperate, she did try to strike out. But just as on Takodana, her body refused to respond. 

“And Han Solo,” Ren continued. “He feels like the father you never had. He would have disappointed you.” 

All the rage and terror bottled up inside of her came out as she turned to meet his stare. 

“Get out of my mind.” 

He backs away, arm still stretched out to her. “You’ve seen the map. It’s in there. And now you’ll give it to me.” 

Narrowing his gaze and his focus, he locked eyes with her. She met his stare without trying to look away. She should have looked away. It would have been the rational thing to do. The sane thing to do. Instead, she just glared, trying not to flinch, not to blink. 

Rey gasps, straining but manages to begin leaning forwards which makes Kylo’s confidence melt away as he is slammed against her mind’s barrier. He pushed with his mind but the probe was going nowhere, it had reminded him of training with Nova. 

A look of amazement replaced the fear on Rey’s face as she discovered herself inside _his_ mind. She was able to see everything and anything that she wanted, and the first thing she went for was how he knew of Nova. She dug and dug, and finally, there it was. Nova was alive! And Kylo had been with her for the past years, teaching her how to use the Force and to create a barrier in her own mind. Rey then saw all the times how Nova had comforted him in secret without her knowledge. Her suspicions from Takodana were true: he did care for someone like how she cared for Finn. And it was Nova, her older sister. 

Suddenly, something else captures her attention and she was inexorably drawn to it. 

“You,” she heard herself saying clearly, “you’re afraid. That you will never be as strong as Darth Vader!” 

His hand pulled sharply away from her then gestured powerfully; the restraints that held her wrists snapped back into place, one again securing her to the inclined platform. He then was gone. 

In the corridor, a stunned Kylo found that he was breathing hard. Rey knew about Nova now and that in itself was unsettling. He didn’t get what he wanted but she certainly did. He was spared further bewilderment when a Stormtrooper appeared, coming toward him. Straightening, Kylo gathered himself. 

The Trooper halted. His evident discomfort at having to speak to Kylo bolstered her superior’s shaken persona. 

“Sir! The Supreme Leader has requested your presence.” 

Kylo nodded and headed off in the necessary direction, accompanied by the Trooper. That latter did not pay any attention when the tall figure he was escorting looked back over his shoulder. 

_A creature in a mask,_ she had said. The same five words that had left Nova’s lips earlier that very same day but unlike her sister, Nova was more knowing. She saw him for who he was under his mask like Snoke but the difference was that she didn’t make him feel bad about it—the Supreme Leader did. 

In the vast, darkened assembly chamber of Starkiller Base were only two figures: one tall and uncertain, the other looming and imperious. For all their isolation, they seemed to somehow fill the room. 

There was as much curiosity in the Supreme Leader Snoke’s voice as there was disappointment. “The girl resisted you?” 

“She is strong with the Force. Untrained, but stronger than she knows. Just like Nova.” Kylo replies with what seemed to be his usual assurance. No one else would have sensed a difference. Snoke did. 

“The girl is Ms. Hux’s sister.” He lurked into Kylo’s memories, taking answers for his own amusement and the young man felt a part of him shrivel up in the deepest corner of his mind. He tried to block the rest but Snoke was quick to the draw. “And Ms. Hux . . . You have compassion for her.” 

“No—never. Compassion? For an apprentice who’s supposed to be my right hand?” 

“I perceive the problem,” Snoke intoned. “It isn’t her strength that is making you fail. It’s _your_ weakness.” The rebuke hurt, but Kylo didn’t show it. “Where is the droid?” 

Smooth and unctuous, the voice of General Armitage Hux rang out in the assembly hall before Kylo could respond. “Ren believed it was no longer valuable to us.” Turning, the quietly livid younger man followed the approach of the confident officer before facing back again. 

Nova wasn’t with him and for that, he was relieved but it also sparked a touch of fear in his heart. If she wasn’t with Hux, then where was she? The logical answer was that she was trying to find Rey and speak with her, to reunite as a family. 

“He believed that the girl was all we needed. That he could obtain from her everything necessary.” Hux continued and stood next to Kylo, staring up at the Supreme Leader. “As a result, the droid had most likely been returned to the hands of the enemy. They may have the map already.” 

Though visibly angry, Snoke’s tone remained unchanged. “Then the Resistance must be destroyed before they get to Skywalker.” 

Hux was clearly gratified to be the bearer of good news. “We have their location. We tracked their reconnaissance ship back to the Ileenium system.” 

Snoke replied with cold satisfaction. “Good. Then we will crush them once and for all. Prepare the weapon.” 

“Yes, Supreme Leader.” Buoyed by the praise, Hux turned and strode quickly out of the hall. 

Daring to disagree, Kylo took a step forward. “Supreme Leader, I can get the map from the girl, and that will be the end of it. I just need your guidance.” 

“And you promised me when it came to destroying the Resistance you wouldn’t fail me.” The threatening figure of Snoke leaned toward Kylo. “If what you say about this girl is true, there’s only one formidable option here. Bring the girl to me.” 

Outside Nova waited as she fumbled with her leather cuff, trying to keep her brain occupied and tapped her foot repeatedly against the floor. Once the door had opened, she straightened herself out, looking at the masked figure of Kylo and sensed how he struggled to control himself. A great deal of his education had been devoted to learning how to live and move forward in the absence of emotion and right now, he needed every bit of that training to stay calm. At the moment, he did not feel powerful. He felt diminished. 

Becoming aware of Nova patiently standing, Kylo waved the girl forward to follow him as he headed straight for the cell that held Rey. 

“What happened?” She was desperate for answers, practically pleading him for anything that he could tell. “What did you do? Did you hurt her?” 

“I _tried_ to obtain the map from her.” His tone was masked, and not even through the Force could Nova uncover it. 

“You tried?” She questions, stopping in her tracks and Kylo halted as well, turning to gaze at her through his visor. She knew, she already knew. “She has the Force . . .” 

“If one sibling is able to use the Force then normally so can the other, though it can skip a generation.” 

_Sibling._ That was the only word that stuck to Nova like adhesive and Kylo realized his mistake once it was too late. “It’s Rey,” she says breathlessly and feels the stinging tears pooling in her eyes. “She’s alive.”

Joy filled her, overflowing like a sink and Kylo was drowning in it. Even her happiness was intoxicating and he absentmindedly took a few steps towards her, their connection tugging and pulling him closer and closer. Ensnared he was again, and like the many times before, he didn’t mind. She still had her innocence and love, and hope: things that Kylo could never have nor touch. But how he wanted to. She _made_ him want to, simply just by being her. 

“You still wanna kill me?” He mumbles, remembering how he felt that intense urge from her whenever he told her that she wasn’t allowed to see Rey until after his investigation. He still hadn’t received what he wanted but with learning the truth and accidentally spoiling it to Nova, it almost made it worth it to see her so delighted. 

She purses her lips, pretending to think it out for a minute or two. “Depends on what you’re looking for.” She teases, meaning if he was wanting her to or not. 

_People just see a creature in a mask, a monster, but I don’t._ Her words echo throughout his head and without much thought he reached up, unlatching his mask which hissed loudly and removed his mask. Nova just stared at him in silence. 

In itself the narrow face that looked back at her was not remarkable. It was rather sensitive. His deep seated hazel eyes favored the honey textured glow, the beauty marks that littered his face were small and reminded her of a constellation of stars. She recalled Bylsma, and even Armitage, saying that he had a resemblance to Leia and Han, and she could see it now from her research under the Order. 

Ben Solo, the Prince of Alderaan. He certainly did carry the appearance of a prince with his thick raven hair that framed his face, a pair of full soft pink lips, long lashes, a soft jawline, and an aquiline nose. 

Nova blinks slowly and steadily, her left hand hesitating as it lingers up and hovers over his cheek. She kept her stare on him and he held the gaze, neither of them looking away as they were in their own little world—far away from the Starkiller Base. Daring but faltering, her arm goes to drop right back down at her side but Kylo moves quick and gently, his gloved fingers clasping around her leather cuff and rests her splayed hand onto his face. 

Electric. That’s the only way Nova and Kylo could describe it. Their connection was like touching a live wire; powerful, exhilarating, and heart stopping. 

Nova gulps, exhaling heavily and shakily as she drops her eyes to stare . . . to stare anywhere else other than at his face, in his piercing eyes. Her body heat rises and she feels unsure, scared even. What was happening between them? Was it natural and supposed to happen? Was it just all her? Or was she making this up all in her head, and believing that she was—

“Don’t be afraid.” His words yanked her back from her piling thoughts, tilting her head up at him again to be met with his softened eyes. “I feel it, too.” Kylo whispers soothingly, honest. 

The string of their connection was now tangled around the both of them, all jumbled but in an amazing, accordingly fashion. The Force was alive, moving through him and her as if they were one and he sensed that their heartbeats found the same rhythmic pattern as each other’s. Strange yet fascinating; Kylo never experienced anything like this and it thrilled him. What could it have possibly meant? That was a new added item on his list. 

His eyes loomed into her hazel ones, the brown stuck out more prominent than the green—just like his—and they were full of consideration and fondness. His sight landed on her thin lips, they were a blush color and it matched perfectly with the tint of her cheeks whenever she was hard at training. Her nose was like his, aquiline, but it suited her perfectly with her heart shaped face and her long brown hair that framed it beautifully. 

He clears his throat, pulling himself away from where his mind was taking him. “Snoke wants to see her.” He tried to speak formally, him not having his vocoder proved his tone useless. 

Nova removes her hand from his face. “Why?” 

“Because she can use the Force, like us. It makes her a threat.” 

“A threat?” 

He nods. “Of becoming a Jedi for the Resistance.” 

Nova then quieted. All those talks of having someone bringing destruction to the First Order were being set in motion and it’s why Snoke cracked down hard on him for not being serious with his duties and why Hux was even more malice filled towards Kylo. Yes, he did put Hux in charge of receiving the droid with the map but he also made it his own personal mission to train her to use the Force. 

“If anything, he’ll probably course her to do what he has done with you. Have her join us, learn the ways of the dark side.” Kylo quickly adds, wanting to ease her weary head with all this new information. 

“She wouldn’t.” 

“You did.” Kylo reminds her. 

Nova nods, agreeing but licks her lips to counter with, “That’s because I had nothing. I _thought_ I had nothing. There wasn’t any other option.” 

_You always had a choice,_ he wanted to tell her but his jaw clenched shut instead. He had known her response was coming but actually hearing it from her own mouth, in her own words, struck him hard like a lightning bolt. He quickly shrugs off the feeling, staring back down at his helmet in his left hand before shifting gaze up at her. Forcibly, he demands his body and feet to step away from her but it doesn’t listen right away. His body lingers, wanting to stay where it felt secure and snug while his mind yells at him to do what Snoke had asked of him. 

Nova was the one to move away first, taking a few steps and focusing down the one corridor as she furrowed her brows. Kylo inspected her behavior, sensing her interest. “What is it?”

Rey was struggling against her restraints, determined to leave and find Nova before Kylo could come back to the room. She paused, eyeing the Stormtrooper by the door and thought to herself. If she could push Kylo out of her mind and enter his, what else could she do? What might she be able to do with regard to someone else? Someone less skilled, untrained in the ways of the Force? 

She addressed him clearly and firmly. “You will remove these restraints. And you will leave this cell, with the door open.” 

“What did you say?” He eyed her and her confidence began wavering as she shifted slightly in her bonds, she repeated what she had said with as much authority as she could muster. 

“You will remove these restraints. And you will leave this cell with the door open.”

Raising the heavy, black and white rifle he held, he came toward and around her. Heart pounding, she watched him approach. Halting before her, he looked down into her eyes. 

“I’ll tighten those restraints.” 

She calms herself and tries again, this time instead of forcing the order, she let it flow from her lips naturally. “You will remove these restraints. And you will leave this cell, with the door open.” 

Instantly, his body perked up and he spoke in a significantly less confrontational and distant tone. 

“I will remove these restraints. And leave this cell, with the door open.” 

Working methodically, he unlatched her shackles. He stared at her for a moment, then turned and wordlessly started for the doorway. Laying in shock on the reclined platform, Rey hardly knew what to do next. She was free. No, she corrected herself. She was free of this cell. That hardly constituted freedom. But it was a beginning. 

She spoke hastily as the guard reached the doorway. “And you’ll drop your weapon.” 

“And I’ll drop my weapon.” He responds in the same uninflected voice, setting the rifle down on the floor, heading left into the outside corridor to depart in silence. 

Rey gets up, grabs the rifle and stares at the open portal for a long moment. Deciding that it was not a joke and that the guard was not waiting for her just outside the cell, she left looking for her way out and for her sister. 

Kylo’s long strides and booming steps echoed throughout the corridor where walls of exposed igneous rocks alternated with panels and consoles of metal and spun synthetics as he strode down with Nova following directly behind him. He donned his mask once again, his emotions boiling and a part of Nova felt rather disappointed but knew that it would’ve happened eventually. Her moment with Ben Solo was short lived but something she’d remember for a long time. 

Entering the holding cell, he found it, as expected, deserted. In the center, the single coppery-hued, angled chair stood empty, its multiple curving restraints open and mocking beneath the subdued red illumination from the ceiling. He gritted his teeth, angry at himself. He had allowed himself to be caught up in Nova and his emotions that it allowed for her to escape with the map in her mind. It was a measure of weakness. 

Unable to contain himself any longer, he pulled his lightsaber, thumbed it to life, and launched into a series of wild swings and strikes, methodically reducing the room to rubble.

Nova side steps, allowing raining sparks and pieces of red hot debris to fly out into the hallway that a pair of Stormtroopers were about to head down. They stopped, hearing Kylo’s grunts and shouts for them and they backed away slowly, retreating on their heels. Gone, without a second thought. 

In the main conference room of the base on D’Qar, an ongoing strategy session had brought together the leaders of the Resistance. Leia, Poe, C-3PO, Han, and an assortment of senior officers including Statura and Ackbar were assembled around a three dimensional map of an isolated, frozen planet that up until now had not been worth a hopeful visit from a minor trading ship. Finn was present too, since it was his information about the world in question that had prompted the gathering. 

“The scan data from Captain Snap Wexley’s reconnaissance flight confirms Finn’s report,” Poe announced to the group. 

Wexley spoke up. “They’ve somehow created a hyperspace weapon within the planet itself. Something that can fire across interstellar distances in the equivalent of real time.” His expression showed his incredulity. “I’ve had my share of technical training, but I can’t even imagine how that’s possible.” 

This time Finn responded. “I can’t, either, but those of us assigned to the base heard rumors that it doesn’t operate in what we’d call normal hyperspace. It fires through a hole in the continuum that it makes itself. Everybody was calling it ‘sub’-hyperspace. That’s how it can arrive in moments across a distance like that between the base and the Hosnian system.”

Wexley nodded slowly. “We’re not sure how to describe a weapon of this scale.” 

One of the oldest officers in the room gestured sharply, a look of horror on his face. “It’s another Death Star.” 

Poe’s expression tightened. “I wish that were the case, Major Ematt. This was the Death Star.” He waved a hand over a nearby control, an image of the Death Star appeared beside that of the frozen world. “And this is Starkiller Base.” Another control and the image shrank, down to near nothing, until it was a small sphere beside the cold planet. 

Leia stared at the invidious imagery. If not for the harsh fact that tens of millions of deaths were involved, the side by side comparison would have been laughable. One more, memories of the destruction of Alderaan flooded back and once more she had to force them aside. 

“So, it’s big.” Han comments, shrugging it off. 

“How is it possible to power a weapon of this size?” Ackbar asks. 

Taking a deep breath, Finn points to the image of the base. “It uses the power of the sun. As the weapon is charged, the sun is drained until it disappears.”

An officer hands Leia a datacard and she reads it off. “The First Order. They’re charging the weapon again, now. Our system is the next target.” 

“Oh my. Without the Republic fleet, we’re doomed.” C-3PO utters, shaking his head. 

“Okay, how do we blow it up?” Han asks, the attention in the room shifted to him. His expression was knowing. “There’s always a way to do that.” 

“Han’s right.” Leia nods, agreeing with him which shocked him.

Admiral Statura spoke. “In order for that amount of power to be contained, that base has to have some kind of thermal oscillator.”

“There is one. Precinct 47.” Finn nods in confirmation, moving around the Starkiller Base hologram, pointing at a hexagonal structure. “Here.” 

Statura eyes it, an idea forming. “If we can destroy that oscillator, it might destabilize the core and cripple the weapon.” 

“Maybe the planet.” Ematt nods, liking the sound of the idea. 

“We’ll go in there and we’ll hit that oscillator with everything we got.” Poe interjects with confidence after seeing all the downcast expressions of those around him. Motioning to the containment control structure of the hologram. 

Ackbar remained pessimistic. “They have defensive shields that our ships cannot penetrate.” 

Han was not so easily discouraged. “Okay, so we disable the shields.” He then looks to Finn. “Kid, you worked there. What you got?”

Finn’s eyes were determined. “I can do it. I can disable the shields, but I have to be there. On the planet.”

“I like this guy.” He comments up to Chewie then focuses back on the ex-Trooper. “We’ll get you there.” 

Gazing at Han, Leia saw something that had been absent from her life for a long, long time: Solo bravado. “Han, how?” 

He grinned broadly at her. She had missed that, too, she realized. 

“If I told you, you wouldn’t like it.” 

An energized Poe took over. “So we disable the shields, we take out the oscillator and we blow up their big gun. Sounds like a plan. Let’s move!” 

Slightly apart from the rush of activity that filled the Resistance base, an unlikely pair was going through the stages of performing a final checkout on an old but deceptively fast freighter. Chewbacca and Finn moved quickly to comply with Han’s orders. 

“Chewie, check the horizontal booster.” A growling response provoked an equally terse one from the Millennium Falcon’s owner. “Come on, let’s go! Finn, be careful with those. They’re explosives.” 

Halting, Finn gaped at the load he was rummaging through. “Now you tell me?” 

The voice that joined in was one that had always been able to bring him to a stop whenever he happened to be doing. He turned to see Leia approaching. 

“You know, no matter how much we fought,” she said, “I’ve always hated watching you leave.” 

He smiles. “That’s why I did it. So you’d miss me.” 

For the first time in quite a while, she laughed freely. It was infectious, happy, and these days, all too rare. “I did miss you.” 

He then became reflective. “It wasn’t all bad, was it? Huh?” Han smiled affectionately. “Some of it was . . . good.” 

“Pretty good,” she agrees, nodding. 

“Some things never change.” Han chuckles. 

“You still drive me crazy.” She met his gaze as he drew closer to her. 

He put his hands on her shoulders, and thirty years fell away in an instant. “Crazy as in crazy good, or crazy as in borderline insane?” 

“Probably a little of both,” she admitted. 

Han knew that this time he might now come back and there’d been too much arguing over the years, the last thing he wanted was to part on even a semblance of a spat. He took her into his arms, which really was much better than talking. They stood like that for a long moment, holding tightly to each other. 

“If you see our son,” Leia whispered, “bring him home.” 

Nova was roaming the corridors of Starkiller Base with Kylo, a female Stormtrooper heading up from behind. “Sir, M’am, sensors triggered in hangar 718. We’re searching the area.” 

Kylo looked at the officer. “What about the Trooper who was on guard?” 

“Still being debriefed, sir. He doesn’t remember what happened.” The officer hesitated. “If you would wish to try stronger methods I can—”

“No, no. Keep questioning him. Just questioning. He may remember something.” His tone darkened. “She’s just beginning to test her powers. The longer it takes to find her the more dangerous she becomes.” 

The officer was then dismissed and they began heading off again. 

“You really believe that?” Nova gazes up at him. “That she’s dangerous?” 

He’s quiet for a moment before answering with a “yes.” She nods, heading down the one glossy corridor and making a left as the PA system comes on, calling sentry droids to resynchronize to Galactic Standard Time. 

“You’re wrong, you know.” Nova heard her own voice speak up which took her by surprise. “Rey’s not dangerous. She’s just like me.”

“She _mind controlled_ the guard to free her.” Kylo counters.

“She _was_ scared.” Nova defends. “I would’ve done the exact same thing.” 

Effortlessly, he began to tell her the truth. “She saw you, in my memories. She knows you’re alive, that you’re here, that you’re with the First Order.” 

Nova’s spirits then plummeted, a frown plastering on her lips. Did Rey hate her? Did Rey believe that she couldn’t trust her sister now? She internally pondered once again while her hand lingered to her cuff, fingers feeling the lengths of straps and tried to clear her thoughts. She reached with the Force, trying to feel for Rey to the best of her newfound ability but it was harder than she realized. 

Rey was hiding in the alcove with the rifle held tight in her hands, watching as a group of Troopers walked by and down into a corridor. Once the coast is clear, she gets up and rushes down the one glossy hall, passing by a room with caution and continues on running to try and find a way out. Or even better, find Nova. 

Normally there was something relaxing about traveling in hyperspace, Finn mused. There was no fighting in hyperspace and very rarely any kind of surprise. Hyperspace travel allowed time for reflection, for casual conversation with comrades, for checking out and preparing one’s equipment. 

Not this time. Not in the course of this jump. 

“How are we getting in?” He asked from behind Chewie’s seat in the cockpit. 

Han explained without looking up from his console. “Their shields have a fractional refresh rate. Keeps anything traveling slower than lightspeed from getting through.” 

Unsure he’d heard correctly, Finn gaped at him. “We’re making our landing approach at lightspeed?” 

One did not have to be fluent in the Wookie language to get the gist of Chewbacca’s comment. 

Han smiled pleasantly. “Chewie, get ready.” 

Finn scrambled for a seat and harness and found himself wishing for a number of very large, soft pads, Chewbacca groaned his readiness. Han studied the readouts before him. The Wookie raised a hand over his own console. 

“And . . .” Han followed the declining fractions intently. “Now!” 

Human and Wookie hands flew over the main console, supplementing as best they could the approach and landing information they had preprogrammed into the Falcon’s instrumentation. Not unexpectedly, more than one last override was required in order to make the ship do something that was against its nature and perform maneuvers for which it had never been designed. 

And just like that, they were inside the shields. 

At that point they were traveling at very much sublightspped, heading above snow covered ground directly for a forest that was not as tall but was far denser than the one on D’Qar. Chewbacca howled loudly enough for Finn to hear him clearly above the wild, blaring alarms. 

“I _am_ pulling up!” Han yelled as he fought with the recalcitrant controls. 

While the trees were packed more closely together than those that formed a canopy above the Resistance base, they were much smaller in diameter. The Falcon went plowing through them as both pilot and copilot struggled to bring the ship up. A moment later it was clear of the ground and shooting to skyward which was an equally undesirable outcome. Chewbacca growls. 

“If I get any higher, they’ll see us!” Han shouted. Of course, if the vicinity of the First Order base was monitored by ground scanning satellites, they were likely to be seen anyway. They could only hope that the instruments on board any such reconnaissance craft were aimed out toward space and not down at the landscape. 

Down again they went as Han and Chewbacca struggled to retain control while trying to level off. They almost succeeded. Back again among the trees, Han fluttered the sunlight drive while Chewie fought to keep the ship functional. They continued to slow. In the end, it was the forest that braked them, as hundreds of trees splintered and flew around them. The descending Falcon still kept going nose first, spinning. Fortunately, the whiteness through which it plowed was composed of relatively fresh snow, not ice. It finally eased to a stop, canted at a ledge, half buried. 

There was no movement in the forest. A few flakes of snow drifting down made no sound. In the midst of the trees, at the terminus of a very isolated and very linear disaster, rose an unnatural mound piled high with whiteness. From somewhere within came a groan, deep, reverberant, and disgruntled. 

“Oh, yeah?” The voice that responded was sharp and decidedly non-Wookie in origin. “ _You_ try it!”

Beneath the snow and within the mound that was the Millennium Falcon, sparks erupted in the passageway behind the cockpit. Having succinctly delivered himself of his opinion of the most recent effort at piloting by the ship’s captain, Chewbacca rose from his seat and headed back to deal with the problem, leaving Finn alone in the cockpit with a brooding Han. 

“That should’ve gone better.” Han was studying the readouts that were still functioning. He shook his head, leaning forward to examine a particular telltale. “That wasn’t supposed to be so rough. Nearly was worse than that.” 

Seeing that Han was having a difficult time coming to terms with their arrival, Finn tried to reassure him. “Hey, you just performed the improbable by doing the impossible. It’s not like there was a precedent to follow. I mean, I’m not a pilot, but I’ve been around a lot of pilots, and I’ve never even heard anybody talking about trying what you just did. You did great.” 

He then gestured around them at the still intact cockpit, at the sky visible through that part of the forward port that wasn’t covered by snow, and at himself. 

“We’re down, we’re alive, we’re all in one piece. I don’t understand. What more could you ask for?” 

Han’s expression didn’t change as he rose and moved to help Chewie. “It shouldn’t have been so rough.” 

Not knowing how to respond to that, Finn, wisely, said nothing. He peers out the forward port and instantly, he began thinking about Rey and how he hoped that she wasn’t hurt. Or worse, dead. In the short time of knowing her, he had felt deeply as if he were a ocean and she was the moon that controlled his tide and basked him a heavenly glow with her presence. He’d hate to see someone like Kylo Ren—or the First Order for that matter—to take that away from Rey. 

An officer ended up finding Kylo and Nova, reporting to them the recent news of the base. “Sir, M’am, the prisoner was not found in hangar 718. But the alarm has been propagated throughout the base and all troops are on alert.”

“Put every hangar on lockdown. She’s going to try to steal a ship to escap—”

Kylo came to a halt, turning his head and simply staring into the distance, seeing something that was not apparent to Nova. She furrowed her brow, wondering what he had been sensing and once she mentally tugged on their link, she felt the overwhelming emotions plunge into all of her senses. Nova’s heart dropped into her stomach, not for her, but for Kylo. 

“Han Solo.” He softly mutters.


	8. Come Home

Thanks to the snow and the heavy forest cover, the patrol droid didn’t see them, and the formation wrap from a heat distorter Chewbacca carried in a pouch served to mask their thermal signatures. From time to time, Finn had taken the more primitive but also effective precaution of using a branch to wipe out their footprints as they advanced. Where they could they kept to rocky surfaces, the better to minimize evidence of their passage. Slung across the Wookie’s back was a duffel packed with advanced dentons whose explosive potential greatly exceeded their size. 

Lengthening his stride, Finn moved up alongside Han as they hid behind a base structure. “The flooding tunnel is over that ridge. We’ll get in that way.” 

Han looked over. “What was your job when you were based here?”

“Sanitation.” Finn replies. 

Han gaped at him, grabbing him by the shoulder. “ _Sanitation?_ Then how do you know how to disable the shields?”

“I don’t.” Finn admitted. “I’m just here to get Rey.”

“People are counting on us. The _galaxy_ is counting on us.” Han states, slightly frustrated. 

“Solo,” Finn shot back, “we’ll figure it out. We got here, didn’t we?” 

“Yeah? How?” 

Finn smiles encouragingly. “We’ll use the Force.” 

“That’s not how the Force works.” Han informs him while Chewie growls. He peers over his shoulder at the Wookie. “Oh, really? _You’re_ cold?” 

Up in the sky, Finn saw the sun being drained and by the looks of it, they had about fifteen minutes until it was completely charged and ready to fire. He urges Han and Chewie to hurry, rushing straight for the tunnels. 

The Stormtrooper who waited for the doorway to open expected to see an empty transport compartment. Instead, he found himself confronting two humans and one Wookie, none of whom were inclined to engage him in casual conversation. Sensing this, the Trooper reacted quickly and reached for his blaster. Reactions still sharp from years of experience, Chewie fired with his bowcaster and from the close shot, the Trooper flew across the room. He smacked directly into the blast door, his armor breaking off from the extreme hit and is sent to the ground with no movement. As Chewbacca dragged the body out of sight, Han and Finn peered warily around the corridor’s first corner. 

“The longer we’re here, the less luck we’re gonna have.” Han quickly decided. “The shields?”

“I have an idea about that.” Finn remarks, checking the corridor outside the transport compartment. Finn gestured to his right, starting off, Han and Chewie following. 

With Finn leading the way, they managed to make it a considerable distance into the base. Spotting a figure coming toward them, Finn’s eyes grew wide. The advancing officer’s armor was highly reflective and the black, red fringed cape that hung down the left side very, very distinctive. 

“Here comes our key,” Finn whispered. 

Han took note of the oncoming figure, then glanced at Finn. “You know this one?” 

“Yeah, we’ve met.” 

Reading the boy’s tone, Han nodded understandingly. “An old friend, huh?” 

“Something like that. As much as I’d wish otherwise, we need her alive.”

Han grinned, a plan already forming in his head as he gave a look to Chewie. 

Far down the corridor a squad of Troopers came into view and the three intruders tensed. But the Troopers didn’t turn to follow the advancing officer, marching off instead down a separate passage. Preoccupied with other matters, the officer failed to see the hairy mountain that plowed into her until it was too late. His massive arms wrapped around her, Chewbacca dragged his captive into the narrow cross corridor where his companions were waiting. As she struggled in the unbreakable grasp, she found herself turned around to confront Han’s blaster pointed directly at her face. 

An peering Finn had swung up into view, feeling a tad cocky at seeing the chrome skinned Stormtrooper trapped. “Remember me?” 

“FN-2187.” 

Finn shook his head curtly. “Not anymore. The name’s Finn and I’m in charge. I’m in charge now, Phasma. I’m in charge.” He repeated, smirking wide. 

“Bring it down.” Han hushes him. “Bring it down.”

Finn then nods and whispers, “Yeah.” He then clears his throat, eyeing Phasma. “Follow me.” 

They managed to avoid the few technicians and Troopers they encountered by ducking back into concealing alcoves or small passageways. There was one guard stationed outside the room they had to enter. Stepping out into the open, Finn waved and smiled as he walked toward the man. 

“Hey! When are you off duty, mate?” 

“Not for another . . .” The Trooper outside the door peered at the newcomer. “Why are you out of uniform? In fact, why are you even in this sector?” He started to bring up his rifle. “Put your hands—” 

A single blow from the Wookie’s massive right hand put the Trooper down on the floor, out cold. 

The shield control room was not large. With everything functioning normally, there was no need for technicians to be on duty. The instruments monitored themselves. If a problem arose that they could not self correct, appropriate notification would instantly be flashed to Central Command. If the difficulty could not be fixed from there, a tech or two would be dispatched to deal with the trouble in person. A planetary shield being a fairly straightforward thing, there was hardly ever a problem with the system. 

One such problem was about to be artificially induced. Taking a seat before the main console, Phasma paused. What was happening right now made no sense. Still, with her chest and shoulders throbbing from the Wookie’s grip, she was not about to offer that would amount to pointless resistance. The fools presently holding their weapons on her would meet their inevitable fate soon enough. She felt something hard push against the side of her helmet. 

“You want me to blast that bucket off your head?” Finn asks. “Lower the shields.” 

“You’re making a big mistake.” 

“Do it,” Finn ordered her. Chewbacca added a few choice moans and grunts for emphasis.

Reluctantly, she worked the controls. Accompanied by a succession of sounds, a sequence of telltales came to life. A readout flared, bright enough for everyone to see it clearly. 

Finn lowers his blaster, turning to Han who was shutting the door. “Solo, if this works, we’re not going to have a lot of time to find Rey.” He said worriedly. 

“Don’t worry, kid.” Han replied. “We won’t leave here without her.” He then smiled because he recognized the look on Finn’s face; it was the same one he had when Luke first told him about saving a Princess from the clutches of Darth Vader. 

More telltales came to life, making Finn turn to see Phasma finishing up as a second message appeared before them. The shields had been disabled. 

The Stormtrooper Captain stood, facing the three resistance fighters. “You can’t be so stupid as to think this will be easy.” She replied venomously. “My troops will storm this block and kill you all.”

“I disagree,” Finn replied without hesitation and aimed his blaster right under her chin. “I was told escape from the corps was impossible, yet here I am. I was told that training prevented anyone from turning against the Order, yet here I am. I was told that I was going to die on Jakku, yet here I am. And here you are.” He then glanced over at Han. “What do we do with her?” 

“Is there a garbage chute?” Han then flicked up his eyebrows with a sly grin. “Trash compactor?”

Finn then smirked, amused while Phasma gave the older man a puzzled look. “Yeah, there is.” 

The warning alert that appeared on the console in the Central Command control room was new to the monitoring technician. Thought to the best of his knowledge it had never come to life previously, he knew perfectly well what it signified. After a quick check to make certain it was neither a system fault nor a test, he felt confident in announcing its activation to those officers who were present. 

“Main planetary shields have gone out. Not localized: right across the board.” 

The officer who happened to be conversing with Hux narrowed his gaze. “General, did you authorize this? I certainly didn’t, nor did any of my subordinates.” 

Hux turned to regard the alert. “No, I most certainly did not.” He barked at the tech. “Cause? Possibly external?”

“It doesn’t show here, sir,” 

Hux frowned. “Send a tech squad over to shield control. Could be something as simple as a bad relay, or . . .”

“Or, sir?” The officer inquired. The general didn’t respond. 

It was the order Poe had been waiting for. While unsure it would come, he had nevertheless run over the strike schematics in his head a dozen times. Timing was critical. Having plotted the vector to the planet that was home to the Order’s Starkiller Base as an arc, both to deceive any long range sensors as well as to delay the arrival and emergence from lightspeed, now they could revise the route and head straight for the target. 

“Roger, base.” Hitting the controls necessary to alter course within a lightspeed run. Poe addressed the rest of his flight. “Red squad, blue squad, follow my lead.” At his touch, their vised vector entered the flight computer of every ship in every squadron, and the X-wings promptly adjusted as a single unit. 

“Copy, Black Leader,” Wexley replied, as his own craft changed direction. 

Within Central Command on Starkiller Base, there was rising concern. General Armitage Hux refused to pace, regarding it as a waste of energy. “The tech squad,” he muttered. “Haven’t they arrived at shield control yet?” 

“Just getting there, sit,” replied the officer who was monitoring the situation. He went quiet, listening, and a strange expression came over his face. He looked back at Hux. “Sir, the lead technician reports that the doorway has been sealed.” 

Hux grimaced. “Sealed? Sealed how? By whom?” 

“He doesn’t know, sir.” The officer listened. “Heat sealed, all the way around the edge. Possibly by a blaster. Should they get a cutter?” 

Hux shook his head. “Tell them to blow the door.” 

“Sir?” The officer’s reply indicated he was unsure he had heard the order correctly. 

“Blow the damn door!” Hux shouted. “Tell them to get in there!” 

“Yes, sir!” The command was relayed. Moments later a reply was forthcoming from the tech repair team. The officer swallowed, hesitating. 

“What?” Hux snarled. 

“Sir, the team leader reports that this is some damage to the shield control system.”

“How much damage?” An increasingly irate Hux demanded. 

A longer pause this time, following which the officer experienced a sudden intense wish to be anywhere other than where he currently happened to be. 

“Destroyed, General. The tech team leader reports that the operational capacity of the entire center has been reduced at least ninety percent by blaster fire.” 

Hux had not achieved his present rank and position by deferring problematic situations to group consultation. “Bypass the shield center. Where redundancy doesn’t already exist, port all controls here.” 

“Yes, sir.” The officer’s fingers flew over the console. It will take a moment, sir.” 

Hux all but scraped skin from the palms of his hands while waiting. 

“Shields?” 

“Not yet,” The officer told him, still working. 

“Why not?” 

“Have to block any remaining possible directives from the shield center so that they can’t override our efforts here, sir.” 

“Hurry. In the name of the Order, _hurry_.”

“Yes, sir. I should have it soon.” 

Hux knew there was nothing more than he could do. Further haranguing would only rattle the officer and the other techs in the command center. He couldn’t stand the silence as the worked because he feared it was deceptive. 

Set down on the snowy surface, two TIE fighters and a Troop transport blanket the battered, half buried disc of the Millennium Falcon. Industrious troops were cautiously concluding their inspection of the ship’s interior. One never knew when even a seemingly harmless freighter might be rigged to blow up in the face of an uninvited visitor. Eventually a noncom spoke in his comm unit. 

“Ship’s clear. No one on board. No antipersonnel traps encountered.” Startled by the sudden appearance of a tall, caped figure, the Trooper stepped aside and came to attention. “Sir!” 

Kylo Ren ignored him as he strode past, his eyes raking every corner of the crashed vessel, looking for—well, he wasn’t sure. Something that might speak to him. Something recognizable, perhaps. 

There was nothing in the deserted cockpit, but he delayed leaving anyways, settling down in the pilot’s seat. Something . . . 

His deliberation was interrupted by a thunderous roar as squadrons of X-wings dropped from the sky, rocketing toward the hexagon shaped bulk of the containment field and oscillation control system. Rising from the seat, he rushed out in time to see the Resistance fighters drop toward the massive structure and begin their bombing runs. 

The entire Resistance was depending on Poe and those following him in. One way or another, this First Order weapon had to be not damaged, not temporarily disabled, but completely destroyed. Automatic weapons systems, trackers, and controls were all very well and good, but when it came down to it, this kind of all or nothing combat boiled down to ships, their pilots, and how good both were. 

He let loose with the X-wing’s full complement of armament, he notes that similar bursts of destructive fire came from Snap’s vessel. Rebel Alliance veteran Nien Nunb was there, too, with him and blasting away with the full force of his ship’s weaponry. 

“Direct hit!” A pilot laughs. 

“But no damage.” 

Poe speaks over the radio, transmitting to his fellow squad. “Yeah, we gotta keep hitting it! Another bombing run! Remember, when that sun is gone, that weapon will be ready to fire!” A pause. “But as long as there’s light, we got a chance.” 

Red borders flanked a ventilation grid that ran the length of the floor as Rey ran down the hallway, her former guard’s blaster rifle gripped tightly in both hands. Needing to catch her breath, she ducked into an alcove that provided at least a nominal amount of cover from anyone moving up or down the passage. Though free of the holding cell, she had no destination in mind, only to find her sister. 

A long walkway was flanked on one side by a stone and steel wall. Possibly an exterior barrier, it offered no hope of an exit. But on the other side of the walkway . . . 

At the far end was a doorway leading to an open hangar. While she couldn’t see far beyond, lines of parked TIE fighters suggested the possibility of escape. All that stood in her way was the narrow, railing free walkway that crossed a vast, open atrium and at the far end, a group of Stormtroopers in idle conversation. No one was looking in her direction. 

Edging forward while keeping close to the wall, she soon found herself at the end of the corridor and near the start of the walkway. A glance over the side and down revealed a seemingly bottomless pit; its sides were molded panels that were softly lit with hundreds of lights extending down, down, until even those lights were not sufficient to illuminate the shadowy depths. How to get across without alerting the hangar guards on the far side presented a seemingly insurmountable problem. The walkway itself was flat and completely open, offering no cover to anyone trying to cross. 

She couldn’t go back. This might be her only chance to get offplanet. And no matter what she had managed to do previously, she doubted Kylo Ren would allow her to manipulate him, or any lesser minds, again. 

The decision was made for her. The echo of approaching booted feet made her turn to look back the way she had come. A clutch of Stormtroopers was coming up the corridor, heading her way. There was no chance they could fail to notice her standing within the shallow alcove. 

Breaking from cover, she ran to the end of the walkway, slipping over the edge just in time as the fast moving squad came up. Hanging there by her fingers, just out of sight, she reflected that what she was doing was no different from climbing the interior walls of derelict starships back on Jakku. The difference was that there it was a lot warmer, and here the passerby were inclined to shoot at you. 

She studied her immediate surroundings and what she saw suggested another way out, one that would not involve a possibly suicidal attempt to blast her way past a cluster of hangar guards. 

Working sideways, hand over hand, locating shallow footholds, she made it across to a service hatch slotted into the wall of the atrium. It opened, silently and without the need to enter a code, at her touch. While still yawning to depths unknown beneath her, the inner working of the base that she was able to reach through the hatch provided access to better handholds. If she was lucky and didn’t lose her sense of direction, much less her grip, she felt she might be able to work her way across to the corresponding service area that ran underneath the TIE fighter hangar, avoiding the guard above. She climbed on in, the hatch closing her in. 

Walls of grey metal lit from within rose above the three intruders as they made their way down the corridor only to be stopped by blast doors that had been closed ahead of them. An unfortunate safety measure because of the battle that was taking place above the containment control center, but one that Finn had anticipated. As Chewie began removing some small but powerful explosives from the duffle he had been carrying, Finn explained what they could expect from that point on. 

“We’ll use the charges to blow that blast door.” He gestured. “The holding cells for prisoners are down that corridor. I’ll go in and draw fire, but I’m gonna need cover.” 

Han eyed him intently. “You sure you’re up for this?” 

“Hell no.” Finn told him. “I’ll go in and try to find Rey.” He said it with so much confidence that Han was inclined to believe the ex-Trooper just might pull it off. “There’s a footbridge that has to be crossed. Troopers’ll be on our tail, so we should plant charges on it, too, take it down after we cross. That won’t prevent a pursuit, but they’ll have to . . .”

A movement caught Han’s attention. Squinting, he broke out into a smile and gestured with his chin. 

“Why are you doing that?” Finn inspects him. “Why are you doing this?” He then mimics the same motion that the older man was doing. “I’m trying to come up with a plan.” Han taps him with the end of his pistol blaster, pointing at the window behind the boy. 

And there she was, climbing up an interior shaft wall. Finn gaped in astonishment, not quite able to accept what he was seeing. Chewbacca moaned his relief at not having to deal with detonating explosives in such tight quarters as they ran to go and meet her. 

It took Rey a moment, long enough to bring to bear the rifle she was carrying, before she recognized the trio and lowered the weapon. Her amazement at seeing them was no less than theirs had been when they had spotted her. 

“You alright?” Han asked her. 

“Yeah.” She replied breathlessly. 

“What happened?” Finn asks softly before his voice darkened. “Did he hurt you?” 

“Finn, what are you _doing_ here?” 

“We came back for you.” 

She tried to find something to say to that, something worthy of the sentiment and the risk they had undertaken. She failed miserably. Chewie, however, had something of his own to add. Whatever the Wookie had uttered caused tears to well up in her eyes. Having never found himself in such a position before, Finn was unsure how to respond. Knowing well her inner toughness, he wondered what Chewbacca had said that could have inspired such a reaction. 

“What’d he say?” He looks into her beautiful, dazzling eyes. 

“That it was your idea.” Rey then threw herself into his arms and Finn placed his one hand on the back of her neck and the other around her waist, his smile wide as he kept her close to him. Neither could hug the other hard enough or long enough. “Thank you.” 

“How’d you get away?” Finn whispers to her.

“I can’t explain it.” She tells him, shaking her head. “And you wouldn’t believe it.” 

She didn’t have to and Finn believed it. She was a pulsating brightness and how it called out to him like a lighthouse signaling for ships to come home. He was going to respond but Han moved on over to them, breaking them from their reunion. 

“Escape now, talk later.” 

An exterior access door opened and four figures came racing out into the snow. Their attention is drawn to the sky in an instant, slowing to a halt. None of them was an expert in aerial warfare. They didn’t have to be. The presence of multiple TIE fighters backed by a seemingly endless barrage of seekers allowed anyone to predict the outcome of the battle. Even the most die hard optimist would have conceded the inevitable. 

“They’re in trouble. We can’t leave.” Han turned to Finn and Rey, his expression solemn. But his tone was the same as always: ready for anything. He gestured toward Chewbacca. “My friend here has a bag of explosives that we didn’t use inside. Be a shame to make him halt them all the way back to the Falcon.” The Wookie added a curt grunt of agreement. “What’s the best place we could put them to use?” 

“The oscillator is the only sensible target,” Finn told him. “But there’s no way to get inside.” 

“There is a way.” 

Everyone turned toward Rey. It was Chewie who ventured the question that had to be asked. 

“I’ve seen inside these kinds of walls,” she told them as the sky overhead continued to rain destruction. “The mechanics and instrumentation are the same as they Star Destroyers I’ve spent years inside salvaging. Get me to a conventional junction station, I can get us in.”

A hasty search took them to a parking area filled with a smattering of vehicles. From a varied assortment, they settled on an isolated snow speeder. Between Finn’s training and Rey’s knowledge of machines, they managed to get it fired up. As Han and Chewie headed for the nearest structure, Finn and Rey took off on the snow speeder. Just in time, it developed, as a Trooper monitoring the area saw them take off. When his single shot missed the accelerating vehicle by a wide margin, he followed up with a quick report. 

Careening over a snowdrift as Rey struggled to maintain control of the unfamiliar machine, they scattered small local creatures in front of them as they sped toward the containment center. From the ground, the hexagon loomed ahead of them. Occasional bursts of fiery energy flowed against its roof and sides as the X-wings continued their attack. Finn could see that the number of strikes had decreased markedly. 

And the sky continued to darken as the curtain of opaque dark energy was drawn into the collectors that dominated the other side of the planet, blocking more and more sunlight as the containment unit situated at the planetary close continued to fill. 

“Snow is _cold_!” Rey squeezed the speeder between a phalanx of willowy alien trees. “It’s the complete opposite of Jakku!” 

“Try living here,” Finn told her. “There are only two seasons: winter, and dead of winter!” 

A sudden boom and the speeder’s course wobbled. They’d been hit! Switching systems around like a card sharp dealing on a busy night, Rey succeeded in maintaining speed. A second shot barely missed them. 

A glance back showed a second snow speeder in pursuit and closing. Finn realized that they way its driver was shooting, if he got any closer, he could take them out with his next burst. They had to do something, and fast. Rey was skilled at driving, and he was skilled at . . . 

“Switch!” He yelled. 

They made the difficult change only because they had to, with Rey still in control of their vehicle but Finn now in position to accurately return fire. Multiple blasts hit nothing, as Rey slalomed around and between trees while Finn fought to take out their pursuer. _Damn driver knew what he was doing._ Finn thought with grudging admiration. 

He closed his eyes, calming himself and exhaled smoothly. He called on the Force, his eyelids opening and with the squeeze of the trigger his shot struck home. The Trooper went flying and the speeder slammed into the trees, bursting into flame. 

“Got him!” As he turned forward once more, Finn’s gaze was again drawn skyward. Not, this time, to the space above the hexagon, but distant, toward the horizon. Shafts of an intense deep purple light were flowing there, a curtain of energy being drawn down by the weapon’s collectors. 

Rey felt his worry. “We’ll get there!” She tells him, but then realizes that they had only the slimmest of chances to prevent the destruction of the Resistance base and the entire D’Qar system. 

At the Maintenance Hatch, Han and Chewie took on a trio of Stormtroopers. Chewbacca took out the middle Trooper with his bowcaster and Han took out the other two with his unerring aim. Alarms began to blare, rising even above the cacophony of the nearby aerial contest. Within the open passageway, another Stormtrooper darted back out of sight and hurriedly activated his comlink. 

“Enemy sighted and engaged at Oscillator Bay Six! Three men down; send reinforcements!” 

Rey brought the snow speeder to a stop besides a small black structure. To Finn it looked unimpressive. But then, he reminded himself, remove a trigger from a gun and while the trigger itself would look decidedly unimportant, its absence would render the gun useless. 

Rey was shivering from the cold, not used to it and Finn took off his jacket, placing her arms in it to stay warm as they entered the structure and opened a maintenance panel. Rey scrutinized the interior briefly before setting to work. One part after another was disconnected by her deft fingers. 

“Been doing this all my life. Never thought about it much until now. My sister taught me and since then, it was just something I did every day, to survive. A routine, like breathing.” 

“Never told me you had a sister.” Finn frowned, he was so caught up in this girl and she felt so much like home that it just now dawned on him how they never had a casual conversation about their lives. 

“Never had the time.” She lightly responds, grabbing the small piece that she needed and tugged it loose. “She’s here, on this base.” Rey then froze in place and Finn placed his hand on top of hers that rested on the floor, feeling the leather cuff that it supported. “She’s been with _him_.” 

Finn automatically knew who she was referring to, he suspected it the moment he saw her up close and personal on Jakku. She was the relative of Nova Hux. 

Nova was sitting by herself, eyes closed as she sensed the approach of familiar presences that wasn’t from her own accord but from Kylo’s. Han Solo and Chewbacca. She peeks an eye open, hearing them speak from high above. 

“We’ll set the charges at every other column.” Han suggested. 

When Chewie responded with a series of empathic moans, he reconsidered. 

“You’re right. That’s a better idea. You take the top. I’ll go down below. Detonator.” 

Unintentionally, their eyes met and the stare held. Man and Wookie realized it might be for the last time. Nothing more was said. Nothing more needed to be. There never had been, over the years, an excess of superficial chatter between the two whenever there was work to be done. Each knew his job and did it. 

“We’ll meet back here.” Han adds. 

Nova stood, backing away as she felt Han getting close, watching him high up in secret as he began planting the explosives. She could tell there was a lot on his mind, but he was doing his best to concentrate on the task at hand. He checked an install, then moved down to another level then another. And then, another, her level. 

She couldn’t help but see how him and Kylo compared in looks; same noses, facial structure, and jawlines. Her interest peaked and she stepped out from hiding, seeing as he planted another explosive and saw her. He lifted his blaster, ready to fire but his expression softened just a tad. She searched his thoughts, seeing that he faltered because she looked like Rey and how he had told her that she needed to get back to Jakku for her family.

“I’m not going to stop you from blowing up this oscillator.” Nova comments in her gentle yet husked voice. 

“Then why are you here?” 

“It’s my thinking place whenever I’m not training. It’s peaceful, quiet, allows me to think.” She says truthfully. “No one’s ever here, at least not until now.” 

Han eyes her questioningly, still aiming his blaster at her. “Anyone know you’re here?”

“You mean Ben,” she corrects his question, sensing that it was on his mind. Nova nods. “Yeah. He’s the only one that knows about this being my little hideout, but not for long. He’s looking for you. He _really_ missed you, you know.”

That makes him lower his blaster, thinking over her words. “What’s your name, kid?” 

“Nova. My mother named me after Nova Cov—”

“Nova Covell.” Han thinks back to the young woman that he had met in his youth and how she fell in love with a Resistance pilot. She wasn’t major buzz like how he, Luke, and Leia were, but many people did relish in the story of her. They were good friends and Han loved her like a sister. 

Han may have not been able to use the Force but he was around those, even married to someone, who had a touch of the Force. He learned to have his very own tell, a sensitivity to realizing those who had the gift. He knew Finn had it, knew Rey did, and now, staring at the younger female in front of him, he knew Nova did too. She was kind, considerate; someone like her didn’t belong with the First Order—

And suddenly, it all made sense. Leia had told Han that she felt a shift regarding their son and how the light was still a part of him. The shift was Nova, the very person standing before Han. A simple scavenger girl who was taken from Jakku, away from her sister, taken under the wing of the First Order and placed right next to Han and Leia’s son. She’d been the awakening in their son’s life. 

“Is she . . .” Nova’s voice drifts off, fingers touching her leather cuff and Han spots the movement. “Is Rey okay?” 

He nods, feeling rather sorry for the girl. “Yeah, she’s okay. The girl knows her stuff.” 

Nova sadly smiles, sniffling as her nose turned pink. She wanted to cry but she couldn’t bring herself to do so, picking her head up, that voltaic feeling returning to her body. 

“I can buy you time.” Nova replies, staring up at the higher levels, eyes fixed on the main entrance. “Just hurry. And get out.” And without another word, she turned on her heel and left Han with a sense of what was about to happen. 

Approaching the main entrance to the hexagon, Kylo Ren ignored the squad of backup Troopers waiting there even as they snapped to attention in response to his arrival. Without waiting for an order, one enterprising Trooper hit the controls that activated the main portal. At a gesture from Kylo, he and his companions followed their leader inside. 

The squad’s presence was greatly diminished by the daunting interior of the complex. Around them, instrumentation and components hummed smoothly, ensuring that the expanding mass of dark energy that was accumulating at the center of the planet continued to be held safely in stats until it was time for it to be released. 

Halting, Kylo slowly scanned his surroundings. Even though they knew what he was doing, the Troopers still marveled at the display. After a long moment of deliberation, he spoke. 

“Find them.”

The squad went into action, moving off rapidly. Once they were out of sight, Kylo turned slowly and headed downward. 

Weapons at the ready, the squad ascended, following prescribed search procedure and covering for one another as they advanced. Blind corners received special attention and added caution. From the shadows Chewbacca watched them pass, admiring the precision with which they progressed even as he kept still. Once they were gone, he emerged to plant another charge. 

Below, Han had finished setting a charge and was preparing to climb a bit higher to place one more when a sound made him hesitate. The working structure was full of unidentifiable sounds, but this was different. Taking no chances, he slipped behind a wide vertical support. 

A glance around the edge of his cover revealed its source, and his countenance underwent a grave shift. The figure that had paused to look over a railing and down into the further depths of the structure was known to him. 

Raising his gaze, Kylo focused on Nova who was on the walkway that spanned a vast open space. She was waiting for him and in a way, he had been waiting for her too. As he looked on, Kylo moved out onto the walkway and the sound of his boots—the sound that had alerted Han moments earlier—receded into the distance. 

“They’re targeting this building and yet, you reside inside.” Kylo comments, stopping only two feet away from Nova. 

“And you came after me.” She happily shoots back. 

Kylo stiffened for a moment, he still couldn’t shake the feeling of _him_ being there. He was certain of it. 

“ _Ben,_ ” Nova furrows her brows, placing her hand up to the side of his mask and stares into his visor where his eyes would be. “I feel the conflict in you. You’re struggling. Let me help you.” 

“You can’t.” His voice may have been disguised by the vocoder but she felt his emotion, and could perfectly picture his sadden expression that was hidden away under his mask.

Nova lowered her hand from him and noticed that he held something tightly in his left fist. Without any words, his glove hand raises and opens, revealing a kyber crystal that he had found after the Resistance began to attack. 

Starkiller Base used to be the planet Ilum which was known for having a kyber crystalline core, young Padawans used to visit here and allowed the Force to guide them to their own kybers for their lightsabers. When the Jedi Order was exterminated by Darth Sidious, the Empire occupied the planet and over mined the crystals until the core, and later a massive trench, opened up along Ilum’s equator. Every once in a while, a kyber or two could be found, and the very one that rested in Kylo’s hand had called to him to give it to Nova. 

“For you, whenever you master building your own lightsaber.” He informs her. “I’ll hold onto it until then.” 

From his hiding place, Han looked back the way he had come. If he left now and managed to control his thoughts and emotions while retracting his steps, there was a good chance he could make it out of the building. If he was really lucky, he would be able to slip outside without drawing the attention of any searching Stormtroopers. Outside, if all had gone according to the hastily drawn up plan, Finn and Rey would be waiting with transportation. A chance, then, to make it back to the Falcon before everyone on this planet went to hell. A chance later for another reunion, on another world. 

A face swam before his, its features aged but still soft, the voice that emerged from between so familiar lips biting yet always affectionate. Forming words that lingered in his thoughts. Forming, at last hearing, a request. A request that wouldn’t go away, he knew. It would never go away. He made up his mind. Instead of retreating, he advanced. Instead of running for safety, he took up the challenge. There was no real choice, he told himself as he made it to the edge of the walkway. 

“Ben!” 

It echoed across the gap, reverberated through the vast open space below which made Stormtroopers take aim at the suspect. 

On the far side, the tall figure turned from Nova. 

“Han Solo.” Kylo Ren stared across at the older man, placing the crystal in his pocket. “I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time.” 

Having slipped inside to search for Han and Chewbacca, Finn and Rey found themselves peering down from up high at the sight of Han and Kylo staring at each other. The light from the opened hatch shined down foggy white, illuminating Kylo and Han as he walked directly into it. 

“Take off that mask.” Han’s tone was a mix of command and empathy. “You don’t need it.”

“What do you think you’ll see if I do?”

Han then pauses. “The face of my son.” 

Finn and Rey were shocked, hearing the news but a new puzzlement took over when Rey noticed her sister standing behind Kylo. Her chest tightened, her hand gripping the railing to try and steady herself. A whirlwind of emotions began taking over and Rey felt as if she couldn’t breathe; it had been agonizing years without her older sister and just seeing her in person, in real life rather than dreams and memories, it was too much but so wonderful. 

Silence filled the air and Kylo slowly glances over his shoulder at Nova, him seeking for strength to try and face him. Nova grants him his wish, mentally wrapping him up in their Force connection and he turns back, unlatching his helmet and slowly removes it. For the first time, Han saw the face of his son as a grown man and it jolted him. It took Rey, Finn, and Chewie by surprise as well. 

“Your son is gone. He was weak and foolish, like his father.” Kylo’s reply was replete with pity. And anger. “So I destroyed him.” 

Han continued with his approach, slow and steady. “That’s what Snoke wants you to believe,” he wasn’t pleading, but stating a fact. “But it’s not true. My son is still alive.” 

“No. The Supreme Leader is wise. He knows me for who I am, and who I can become.” 

There was no hesitation or stride in Han’s voice. “Snoke’s using you for your power. When he gets what he wants, he’ll crush you.” 

Only a few feet away from his face, Kylo steps back, drawing closer to Nova and she presses a hand on his back as she feels him constantly tugging on their mental link. He needed a reminder that she was there with him so the only way she could think of was by physically touching him. 

“You know it’s true.” Han adds. 

Kylo hesitates, his facial expression changing because he did know that it was true. 

“It’s too late,”

“No, it’s not.” Han takes another step. “Leave here with me. Come home. We miss you.” 

Nova heard Kylo sniffle gently, his eyes filling with tears and she could feel how long he had waited to hear those words from his father.

“I’m being torn apart.” His voice began breaking. “I want to be free of this pain. I know what I have to do but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it. Will you help me?” 

“Yes,” Han told him. “Anything.” 

His helmet is dropped down next to his feet as he reaches for his lightsaber, unclipping it and gazing down at it for a moment before extending it toward Han. For an instant that seemed to go on forever, nothing happened. Han reaches for the weapon, holding it and gives his son a nod. 

Nova took her hand off of Kylo, picking up his helmet and ran her hand across it as the light from outside was fully blocked by the flow of descending, accumulating dark energy. She gazes up at the exact same time that Kylo does to his father and she spots her little sister high up, watching intently on what was conspiring with Han. 

Kylo ignited the lightsaber and the fiery red beam lanced outward to pierce Han’s chest from front to back. Chewie let out a grief stricken roar and Rey screams, “ _No!_ ” Finn put an arm around the girl besides him. 

“Thank you,” Kylo murmured, and truly, the darkness above was mimicked by the wavering darkness in his voice. 

Accepting without quite believing, Han stared back into the face of his son as Kylo pulled the lightsaber from him. A rush of memories flashed through his mind: worlds and time, friends and enemies, triumphs and failures. Words he wished he had spoken and others he regretted. All gone now, lost in an instant. Lifting his left hand up, he touches his son’s face for the last time then falls, vanishing into the depths. 

On another world far, far away, a woman felt a shudder in the Force that lanced through her like a knife. She slumped into a seat, her head lowering, and started to cry. 

Stunned by his own action, Kylo Ren stood motionless then sadly turned to Nova who silently watched him, understanding his predicament and took it in without too much judgement. He had believed following through on the act would have made him stronger but it weakened him instead, leaving him even more conflicted and hurt. He didn’t hear the roar of the enraged Wookie above, but he did feel the sting of the shot from the bowcaster as it slammed into his side, knocking him onto his knees. 

Nova gasped, diving down before him, still holding tightly onto his helmet as hostile fire began between the Stormtroopers and Chewie, Finn, and Rey. Returning fire, the Wookie retreated down a corridor, hitting the switch on the remote as he ran. 

First one charge ignited, then two, then four, then finally the rest. Enormous, concerted explosions rocked the interior of the hexagon. Walkways collapsed, plunging to the bottom of the interior cylinder. There was shuddering as the walls trembled, held then began to fail as their main support and then subsidiary columns snapped. Amid the rising bedlam and confusion, Kylo Ren struggled to stand but Nova helped him. As she did, his gaze turned and went upward to meet the stares of Finn and Rey. 

Finn felt his anger through the Force, it flowing out of him like hot lava and he reached for Rey’s hand. “Have to go now!”


	9. Two Different Sides

Finn was running with Rey, seeking a path through the snow and the soft falling flakes, shadows, and increasingly dark forest. Even in the artificial darkness, in the curtain of dark energy, the forest felt clean and prepossessing compared to what they’ve just witnessed. Both had surging amounts of emotion and energy flowing through them as they raced through the sea of tree trunks.

“The Falcon’s this way.” Finn was using the Force to help him lead the way to safety as Rey followed. 

Suddenly, they both heard a lightsaber activating ahead of them which slowed them to a stop, out of breath. When Finn looked over at Rey, he knew the same realization had struck her. There would be no running away from the singular figure with his gleaming red weapon. 

The three stood staring at one another: Finn and Rey, Kylo Ren some ten meters away. 

“We’re not done yet.” 

Finn stares him down and Rey snarls with, “You’re a monster.”

“It’s just us now. Han Solo can’t save you.” Making a fist with his left hand, Kylo begins to repeatedly hit the side where Chewbacca’s bowcaster had shot him. Blood dripped onto the snowy ground as he grunts, winching slightly with every forceful strike he made. 

Rey then pulled up her blaster, taking aim but before she could fire, Kylo released his fingers from his palm and splayed them at her. She went flying back through the air, screaming and dropping her gun. 

“Rey!” 

Finn shouts as he watches her smash her back into a tree nearby and falls hard into a heap of snow, dazed and hurt. Tossing his rifle away, he ran for aid and got down next to her, cradling her face gently into his hands. 

“Rey? Rey?” He was being tender, trying to wake her up but her eyes still remained close and he felt his heart breaking. “Oh, no. No, no. Rey?”

The sound of Kylo’s lightsaber is menacing, crackling like fire. The thrumming noise captures the ex-Trooper’s attention as he shouts from behind him, “Traitor!”

Finn lifts his head, feeling himself growing strong and determined. Kylo had hurt Rey not once, but twice and he was going to avenge her to the best of his ability—to the best of his _Force_ ability the only way he knew how. Cautiously, he settles the girl’s head down tenderly in the snow and reaches at his side for the Skywalker lightsaber. He stands, facing his enemy and activates the blue blade. 

The sight of it was enough to give Kylo a pause. He stared at it for a moment before reacting: pointing at it with his weapon. “That lightsaber. It belongs to _me_.” 

Finn tightened his grip on the hilt. “Come get it.” 

Despite his fear, Finn raised the beam as he charged forwards. Kylo lunged, struck and Finn parried. Shards of light flew, illuminating the snow and the surrounding vegetation. Kylo swings forwards, Finn bends back and dodges his flaming blade as he brings up his own lightsaber from behind and goes to bring it down on Kylo but the older man blocks it effortlessly. Finn repeats the action but this time, Kylo pushed his blade upwards, throwing Finn back and off balance. Quickly, Kylo takes lurching steps forwards and swings his fiery saber around for two side attacks but Finn blocks until Kylo brings his saber straight down on Finn’s and knocks the younger boy directly onto his back in the snow.

Drawing back slightly, Kylo hits his side again to try and tap into his anger and the dark side of the Force while Finn gets himself back up. Kylo turns, considering his unexpectedly determined opponent, then resumes his assault with a vengeance. 

Swinging his blue blade wildly out in front of him, Finn brings it in a downwards motion but Kylo moves out of the way; turning and twirls his lightsaber around in a mockery of his skills. He steps up, their blades clashing once then twice before Kylo does a spin and Finn backs up as much as he could and brings up his lightsaber to block the blow. 

With a swing, their red and blue blades lock and the energy crackling and spitting sparks. The two boys were close, Finn grunting to try and use all of his muscles to press against Kylo but he was too strong, pinning him up against a tree. Kylo then pressed harder, the one quillion touching his shoulder, burning through the jacket that Rey gave back to him and reaching skin. Finn screaming in agony, hearing his own flesh sizzling. 

Rey groans as she awakes, hearing the yelling through her foggy haze and opens her eyes, seeing how the two boys were in a clash. “Finn.” She whispers, her senses slowly returning to her.

She could feel the burning sensation on her own arm as if she was the one being harmed. It was painful, seering, unbearable but somehow, Finn withstood it and managed to press back on Kylo, throwing him off. 

Kylo brings his lightsaber around to strike but Finn flees, blocking a hit and parries, swings, and slashed. The tip of his lightsaber beam cuts Kylo’s shoulder and the clad figure whips around, holding his arm and grows furious. Kylo reconsidered his opponent. When he closed the distance between them anew, it was with a purpose that had been previously lacking. Expecting an execution, Kylo found a contest. Now that he had been touched, it was time for play to end. 

Advancing relentlessly, he was driven by something that Finn could not even sense, far less counter. Still the ex-Trooper fought back, until Kylo knocked his lightsaber away from his hands which landed rightside up in the snow as it deactivated a few feet away. Throwing a punch into Finn’s face which makes the boy spin, he takes his lightsaber and slashes up the entirety of his back as he falls. 

It was over. 

Switching off his own weapon, Kylo extended an arm toward the device lying in the snow, It twitched and then began to vibrate as the Force called to it. Stretching out his hand farther, straining, Kylo beckoned powerfully and the lightsaber rose, bulleting toward his outstretched fingers. And past them. 

Taken aback, he whirled to see the weapon land in the hand of a girl standing by a tree. Rey appeared equally shocked that her reach for the lightsaber had exceeded his. She gaze down at the weapon now resting in her grip. 

Holding the hilt of the lightsaber in both hands, like how Finn did, she ignited the beam as Kylo activated his once more and charged with her consuming rage. 

Kylo hits her lightsaber off to the side but she swings it around back around, directing it downwards on him but he blocks it, running off and Rey pursues. She swings, missing him but manages to cut through a tree, splitting it in two.

Kylo brings down his blade but she blocks, backing away to give her distance as she charges again. Kylo dodges as he goes to swing but Rey limbos which makes him strike a tree. She spins and he does as well, both have missing each other’s blades as the tree toppled over. Facing one another, Kylo twirls his saber around in his hand and Rey stops him by lurching forwards, hitting his blade with hers before he counters with bringing his own lightsaber above his head, hammering it down on top of hers. 

High above and swathed in the shadow of the curtain of descending dark energy, Poe Dameron saw something. An explosion on the roof of the containment center. By its intensity and configuration he could tell that it was not the result of a hit from one of his X-wings, but instead a blast from within. Swinging around, he found that for the first time he could see the interior of the seemingly impregnable structure. 

It was an opening. A small one. One opportunity, maybe. Given the way the fight was going, probably a last one. 

“All units, this is Black Leader. Target structural integrity has been breached! This is our chance! Red Four! Red Six! Cover us!” Poe orders. “Everybody else, hit the target hard! Give it everything you got!” 

Led by the black fighter and ignoring both pursuing TIE fighters and arcing seekers, the remaining X-wings broke off from defensive combat and dove as one toward the hexagon. They began blasting at it, piloting through which proved to be difficult as the defense fired back which had Poe all pivoting out of the way. 

“I need some help here! I need some help!” Poe shouts into his radio headset. 

“Coming in!” Bastian lowers himself down, covering him. . 

Jess then looks off to the side, seeing a cannon aiming at Ello Asty’s ship. “Watch out!” 

The cannon fires, direct target on the craft and it sparks in a fiery explosion. “I’m hit!” He yells just before his ship crashes down into the ground, tumbling before exploding. 

Poe sees it happen, clenching his jaw and grips onto the yoke, he didn’t want anyone else to get hurt. “All teams,” he announces, “I’m going in. Pull up and cover me.” 

“Copy that, Black Leader. Good luck, Poe.” Niv Lek responds, doing as told and pulls up with Jess, Yolo Ziff, Bastian, and the others. 

Flying through the breach as a TIE fighter was on his tail, Poe steers, rotating his ship, entering the small space and loses the fighter. One detonation after another shook the great edifice and gradually, almost in slow motion, it began to collapse. Orangey blasts of flame began to erupt from below, rising from unseen chambers far underground as they walls were caving in upon themselves as he accelerated through the gap and letting out a yell of triumph. 

The squadron follows, flying overhead as the ground rumbles and the oscillator erupts, spitting debris and fire. Snow from all around the area lifts and is blown back from the violent release of energy. From underneath, there’s more explosions, creating a chain reaction that begins to travel throughout the entire planet. 

Within the corridors and confines, the administrative rooms and technical control sectors of Starkiller Base, there was panic. Technicians reacted with despair as, despite their frantic efforts, one monitor after another went to red as critical systems began to fail. 

“Lower-order cells are overheating,” declared one tech in the command center. “Emergence crew can’t get to the site. Full system load shutdown.” When he turned back to Hux there was a look in his eyes that the general had never seen in any of his techs. “The oscillator is failing. We’re losing containment.” 

“Oscillator has been hit.” Another officer struggled to keep the fear out of his voice. “Assessing damage. Attempting to sustain power.” 

Hux watched it all in silence as he backed away very slowly and turned as he saw Nova rushing into the center, eyes scanning the many monitors as she still held onto Kylo’s mask. Once her sight met with Hux, he knew that there was no point in doing anything else. Quietly, he motioned for him to follow her and she did. 

Within the base, pandemonium refined as buildings began not just to crumble, but to collapse into a succession of huge sinkholes as the ground itself surrendered to the slowly failing containment field. 

In the darkness of the cavernous assembly room, Armitage and Nova rushed to stand before the image of Snoke. Try as Armitage Hux would, it was proving increasingly difficult to maintain a semblance of control. 

“Supreme Leader. The fuel cells have ruptured. The collapse of the planet has begun.” 

Furious as he was, Snoke knew there was nothing he could do. So many plans so carefully laid, so many intentions that must now go unfulfilled . . . 

“Leave the base at once and come to me with Nova Hux.” He then added grimly, “It is time to complete the training.” 

“What about _him_?” Nova spoke up, her eyes knitted together in devastation. “Why just me?” 

Snoke didn’t respond. The call cut out, leaving Hux and her in a room that was breaking apart in shambles and raining down dust and rock. 

“Let’s go, Ms. Hux. We need to leave immediately.” 

“No!” Nova jerked away from Hux as he tried to reach for her, to guide her out of the room and to the nearest form of transportation. 

“The Supreme Leader said—” 

“I don’t care what he said.” She interjected. “I’m not leaving here without Ben. This planet is going to implode, and I’m _not_ going to abandon him.” 

To an observer at a distance, it would have appeared as if a series of small explosions was going off in the depths of the forest. Blow after blow landed as lightsaber struck against lightsaber. Though Kylo was bigger and stronger than Rey, their struggle had nothing to do with physical size. What she lacked in mass, she made up for in ferocity. 

For a while she actually drove him backward, until he regained his self assurance and in turn pressed her. The fight continued to shift back and forth; first he gained the advantage, then an enraged Rey took it back. 

There was a vast rumbling, as of a continent sighing, and a gigantic chunk of forest behind Rey simply broke downward, leaving her fighting on the edge of a cliff so high that the newly formed surface below could not be seen through the rising cloud of dust and snow. 

Kylo held his lightsaber, poised to strike. “I don’t want to kill you.” 

Breathing hard, Rey looked up in disgust at the man. “You killed Finn.” 

“He attacked first, I was just merely protecting myself.” He was beseeching and insistent all at once. “You need a teacher. I can show you the ways of the Force!” 

Slowly she shook her head. “The Force?” That was what this was about? Instead of moving to defend herself, Rey closed her eyes. Kylo hesitated, confused by her action. She felt for it like how Maz told her: it was in the trees, in the ground, in the very lightsaber she held, it was in Finn and it was in her. A long moment passed and she opened her eyes, attacking viciously, in a way she didn’t know she was capable of; striking again and again as Kylo was slowly driven back. The flaring energy from the interacting lightsabers were pronounced more than ever in the flurry of her attack. 

Rey snagged as his cape, the material burning away as Kylo fell onto his knees with a grunt. He was up again in an instant, taking a swing at her but she moved, the tip of her blade getting him in the other shoulder matching the wound that Finn graciously gave him. He stumbles back a few feet, his body in aching pain but he holds out, blocking the following blow from Rey’s weapon. He succeeded but still took the full force of the strike against the haft of his own lightsaber. The weapon went flying into the snow. 

Unarmed, he raised a hand and utilized the Force to fend off one slashing blow after another, until finally her wrath penetrated his remaining defenses. Taking a glancing blow to the chest and head, he went down, a prominent burn slashes across his face. Weakened, he reached out toward his lightsaber, trying to draw it to him. 

One downward cut, she saw. One quick, final strike, and Rey could kill him. She had to make a decision now. _So easy,_ she told herself. _So quick._

Rey raises her lightsaber above her head and behind her back, her arms swinging down until it met with Kylo’s lightsaber once again but it hadn’t been him who held it in his hand, it was another. 

Her eyes follow over and up, seeing her big sister blocking her strike with widened eyes. She tilts the hilt upwards, thrusting the blue blade to be captured in between the main blade and the one quillion and arcs it over their heads, off to the left. Rey’s body followed through with the motion, her lightsaber unlocking from place and she staggers on her feet. Backing away, recoiling from what she had almost done, she eyes her sister sadly and in fear. 

Twirling the weapon in front of her face then around her head, bringing it straight down at the right side of her body, Nova stood, defiant, wielding the fiery lightsaber with inferno eyes. Before Kylo’s broken body, she was sheltering him because up until that moment she didn’t believe to think that her sister could be _that_ dangerous—could be that _close_ to killing someone. How much had she truly missed out on? Did Jakku really teach Rey this kind of behavior? 

_Eat or be eaten,_ she’s violently reminded of Unkar Plutt’s motto for surviving. 

“I’m sorry,” was all that left Nova’s lips because that was the forefront thought. She was sorry for everything: being taken from Jakku, from leaving her alone, to having been thrown into all of this. To have this being their first reunion in twelve years. A bittersweet atmosphere. 

Rey could only imagine everything that had happened to her and she did, not being to hold Nova accountable for any of it because she had seen it all from entering Kylo’s mind. 

Nova had been on so many worlds and been treated horribly until she found a form of a saviour in an older gentleman named Bylsma but it changed when Kylo and a man named Armitage Hux crashed on the planet. The First Order came at the call of Hux, killing norwoods who became Nova and Bylsma’s guards. Nova displayed her Force powers and Kylo had been left speechless in the moment, he thought that he killed off the new generation of Force users like how Snoke demanded and knew that he returned to face him, he’d know and order for her death.

Kylo took her to the Supreme Leader, asking—no, _pleading_ —to have Nova join them in the First Order because she had saved his life and was capable of touching the dark side of the Force. Snoke was impressed by his claims, the thought appealing to him and gave confirmation. Nova became a Hux, training in combat, doing research on the Resistance and on historical Siths like Darth Plagueis, Darth Maul, Darth Sidious, and Darth Vader, and much _much_ more. Including the ever developing psychic link between her and Kylo that grew more and more every passing second, day, with conversation and exchange. 

Rey’s eyes linger back down to see Nova’s hand clutching _his_ lightsaber, the same lightsaber that had been in her nightmare, that had murdered Han and had torn up Finn’s back. The fury began to return but it was different, it was out of her distress of seeing someone she cared deeply for and loved holding something that had only brought her dread, grief, and heartache in such a short amount of time. 

Her own hand tightens on her lightsaber as her eyes meet Nova’s pained ones again. “I’m sorry, too.” Rey apologizes. They were sisters, forever bonded by blood, but in this moment they were miles apart, standing on their sides of what they’ve grown accustomed to. What they’ve been conditioned to understand. 

Rey goes, jabbing her lightsaber forwards and Nova bats it away, sparks spitting into the snow. Rey tries again but Nova shelters herself, throwing off the blue blade from her unstable, crackling one and drives her sister back away as she makes a full outward swing to try and ward her off. Rey runs for a fallen down tree, ducking under it before turning and slicing it in half, the pieces rocketing towards Nova but she dodges them. 

With their lightsabers humming and the blue and yellow-red colors illuminating the flurries of snowflakes, Nova makes the first move. Rey blocks the blade with hers twice but then her sister spins smoothly, reverse gripping the gnarly, spitting lightsaber and clashes their blades, making single handed swipes back and forth, hitting hers with cosmic savagery. Every blow Rey blocked just knocked her away and drew backwards, stumbling deeper into the forest, back to where Finn’s body lied. 

Rey scales up jagged rock, running away from her to place distance in between them. Neither was playing to kill or to harm, it was just a battle to show each other what they’ve learned during their split years. They truly were both magnificent for people who’ve never held lightsabers before, their power in the Force raw and immeasurable. 

As Nova flips her lightsaber back around Rey swings and jabs, she parries then ripostes, grabbing her little sister’s right wrist that held the Skywalker lightsaber. Rey does the same. The two dance in a circle, being a showcase between the forces as they struggle against each grasp with grunts of effort. Spotting Rey’s leather cuff and knowing it’d help cushion what she was about to do next, Nova swung down her arm and picked up her foot, kicking off Rey’s hand. 

She yelps, backing off and shakes feeling back into it before double handling the hilt and clashes their blades together once, twice, and for a third time. On the forth, pressing hard, Nova storms forwards and their connecting blades were just hovering inches away from her and Rey’s faces which basked them a red and blue tinted purple. 

This could go on forever, Nova realized as she stared into her sister’s fortified face as the lightsabers crackle. Both of them strain, putting an equal amount of pressure on each end. 

The world shook beneath Nova’s feet as the ground began to split, she watched a small crack forming in the snow between their feet and panic ensued within her while Rey wasn’t paying attention. Quickly thinking and staring back up at her sister, Nova calls on the Force like how she did with Kylo’s lightsaber and thrusts her left hand out. Rey’s body lifted off, darting back into a clearing where she hit down rough yet softly. 

The ground finally shifts, splitting them apart from each other and Nova watches as Rey stands, the blue glow of the lightsaber outlining her minimizing silhouette. Her heart pounded as she deactivates the lightsaber, clipping it at her side and sadly looked on at her baby sister from across the gully. There were too many things that she could’ve said, could have done. They didn’t even have to fight but they did, to try and display their strength and in that, it caused them to drift away from each other. Metaphorically and physically. Nova pondered that maybe it was for the best, they were two very different people now, on two different sides. 

She knew that Rey and Finn would be okay, she sensed Chewie starting up the Falcon all on his own and was on his way to find them. He would soon enough. On the turn of her heel, Nova ran, heading straight for Kylo who had finally succumbed to his cauterized wounds and went unconscious. 

“Ben,” she whispered, kneeling at his side as her shaking fingers cupped his cheeks and she felt that familiar jolt. She was suddenly thrown back to when they first met the only difference being that she knew that these wounds can and would kill him if he went untreated any longer.

Nova felt herself getting emotional as the planet rumbles and she felt the impending doom. She closed her eyes, focusing and trying to reach out to Armitage, begging for him to come and find them. She willed and willed and willed. 

The landing lights of a shuttle appeared in the distance, coming over the trees in her direction. She opened her eyes, sensing it had been Hux and props herself up, scooping her hands under Kylo’s arms and began dragging him over to where the shuttle had parked. She was strong but she still called on the Force for extra help, making way to the descending ramp which revealed Armitage and a handful of Troopers.

“Stars sakes, what happened?” He asked, musing over the fact that _the_ Kylo Ren was injured from a battle and not her. It proved to be a rather good thing because Snoke had requested for Nova, not the boy. 

“Please, help!” Nova begged, knowing that they needed to move. 

The Troopers rushed forwards, grabbing the injured man and placing him in the medbay. Hux guides Nova inside, shutting the door. Once all aboard, the shuttle lifted off, its occupants desperate to flee the dying planet before it became nothing more than a memory. 

On ground watching, Rey huddled beside Finn and turned him over, and held his unresponsive body in her arms, crying from all that’s happened. There were worse ways to die, she told herself as the ground continued to shake and trees began to topple around her. 

No, she corrected herself bitterly. There was only one way to die. She steeled her thoughts. 

The glow that enveloped her and Finn did not come from the planetary core. It was too bright, too localized. She looks up, squinting through her blurry vision at the beams of a ship. A ship she recognized. 

Rising from the vicinity of the new canyon that had appeared behind Rey in the course of her battle with Kylo Ren, the Millennium Falcon came toward them. Considering the general condition and unstable surface, its pilot made a surprisingly smooth touchdown. 

She would have thrown herself into Chewie’s arms had he not stooped immediately to pick up the limp body of Finn. 

Given the chance, she would have remained in the medbay, where the Wookie set his burden down. But despite its added modification, the Falcon still flew better with someone in the copilot’s seat. In moment they were beyond the atmosphere of the imploding planet. The jump to lightspeed was accomplished without incident, preventing them from observing the final cataclysm. Which was just as well. 

A moment after they fled, Starkiller Base system became a binary. 

Poe, having called in his teams in relief after spotting the Falcon leaving Starkiller Base, was waiting for the ship as it touched down on D’Qar, settling into a vacant space between the remaining Resistance X-wings. Even before the boarding ramp hit the ground, Chewbacca was emerging, moving fast with the still breathing Finn in his arms. Medical personnel and officers waiting to meet them escorted the pair inside the complex. 

Following in the Wookie’s wake, an exhausted Rey found herself greeted by a cheering crowd. Leia Organa was in the forefront, accompanied by a pair of droids. Rey recognized BB-8 immediately, and wondered at the identity of the gleaming golden protocol droid at his side. Instinctively, she headed toward Leia. 

Though heartbroken at the deaths of Han and so many brave pilots, Leia was grateful for the deliverance of the Resistance. In spite of the presence of the crowd that was looking on, the women embraced without embarrassment or hesitation. Then, with tears falling, they moved inside. 

Hours passed without hearing from the medical center. When Dr. Kalonia finally emerged from the intensive care section, Rey nearly fainted at seeing the smile on her face. The physician’s words confirmed Rey’s hope. 

“Your friend’s going to be just fine.” 

“Thank you.” It was all Rey could think of to say. 

She kept on thinking back to Nova and how she saved her from being taken down and out by the cracking ground. Her sister saved her, still loved her, and that gave her optimism. 

Located somewhat apart from the swirl of main activity inside the Resistance base, a light had come on atop a small R2 unit shoved back among the rest of the equipment in the room. BB-8 rolls over, seeing the waking up droid and chirping excitedly which then gathers C-3PO’s attention.

In the conference room, Leia was with Poe, a few chosen officers, and an assortment of equipment and gear that was considered important but was little used. 

Poe spoke first. “Kylo Ren said that the segment held by BB-8 is the last piece of the map that shows the way to Skywalker’s location. So, where’s the rest of it?” 

“The First Order has it.” Rey looked over at him. “They extracted it from the Imperial archives.” 

Poe stared at her. “The Empire?” 

Admiral Statura nodded in agreement. “It makes sense. The Empire would have been looking for the first Jedi temples. In destroying all the Jedi sanctuaries they would have acquired a great deal of peripheral information. 

“Excuse me, General.” 

Leia turns at the new voice, seeing the droid standing before all of them with BB-8 and R2-D2. 

“R2 may contain some much needed news.” 

“Tell me.” 

Emitting a long, sustained whistle, R2-D2 projected a full three dimensional image of a huge navigational star chart. No one in the room could fail to notice that it was missing a substantial fragment. In response to the hovering image, BB-8 rolls to Poe and beeps. 

“Alright, buddy, hold on.” 

Moving to the side of the spherical droid, the pilot removed from a sealed compartment in his clothing the tiny and very old data device he had originally received from Lor Stan Tekka. Inserting it into an appropriate receptacle in BB-8, Poe stepped back. For a moment, nothing happened. Then a lens on the droid’s curved side came to life, projecting a large section of the missing piece within R2’s map, BB-8 adjusted his position slightly. 

The two disparate portions merged perfectly to form a completed chart. 

“Oh! The map! It’s complete!” C-3PO replies, amazed. 

“Luke.” Leia whispers, swaying with heartfelt emotion.

Cheers and spontaneous embraces filled the room with so much joy that no one paid any attention to who was hugging what representative of whichever species. Rey and Poe were not excluded, though their sudden, tight clinch of shared excitement led to a moment of mutual awkwardness. 

“Uh, hi,” the pilot murmured. “I’m Poe.” 

She nodded slowly, searching his face and smiled. “I recognize the name. Poe Dameron, the X-wing pilot. I’m Rey.” 

“I know.” He smiled back, a little more at ease. “Finn was very adamant on saving you.” 

Amid all the shouting and spontaneous applause, few noticed a protocol droid as he bent over the now quiet blue astromech unit. 

“My dear friend, how I’ve missed you.” 

Within the intensive care pod in the medical center, Finn lay in a medically induced coma, his health and life still very much in the balance. Dr. Kalonia’s prognosis had been favorable, even positive, but nothing certain could be said until Finn had fully recovered. When wholly parsed, the phrase “be alright” could mean one thing to a physician and something else entirely to the patient. 

Sitting beside him, a deeply concerned Rey noted the hour. She was chosen to find Luke Skywalker with Chewbacca and R2-D2, and it was time to go. Leaning in to him as closely as the pod would permit, she kissed him softly on the lips, her words full of determination. 

“We’ll see each other again. I believe that.” 

Cleaned up and visibly refreshed from his long period of inactivity, R2-D2 led the way up the Millennium Falcon’s loading ramp. Nearby, Chewbacca was performing the usual last minute checks of the ship’s external systems. Ordinarily it was a two person job, but he insisted on doing it by himself. 

Standing at the foot of the ramp, an uncertain and uneasy Leia found herself fiddling with the seals on the front of the grey vest Rey was wearing. _Foolish nonsense_ , she told herself even as she continued. Unworthy of her status and position. But it felt so right, and so natural, to be doing so. 

“I’m proud of what you’re about to do,” she told the girl. 

Rey replied in all seriousness. “But you’re also afraid. In sending me away, you’re reminded.” 

Leia straightened. “You won’t share the fate of our son.”

“I know what we’re doing is right. This is how it has to be. This is how it should be.” 

Leia smiled greatly, reassuringly. “Your sister, Nova, you told me that my son seemed to turn to her in comfort when he was speaking with Han and was willing to give up his lightsaber.” 

Rey nods, confirming the statement. “Why?” She softly asks, noticing the woman’s facial features loosen. 

“I know you miss her and with what you’ve experienced, after _all_ of it, you still want her to come home.” Leia’s words were sincere, lovely, and soothing. “That’s what I want for my son, and the Force, it showed me that he would because of _her_.” 

A monster changing back into human because of a person? Those types of tales were only fictional, Rey theorized. A monster would only turn another, and that other would do the same to another. The cycle would continue and prosper. She may not have teachings in the Force but Leia was so sure of herself that Rey felt no other choice than to nod in understanding. 

But of course, Leia knew the uneasiness of what she spoke to Rey and clarified in the simplest words: “You can only keep the light alive if you find the source of where it comes.” 

Rey nods this time, truly getting what she meant and places her quarterstaff over her shoulder and double checks to make sure that the Skywalker lightsaber was in her haversack. She turns, starting up the ramp. 

“Rey,” she stops and eyes Leia again. “May the Force be with you.” She smiles gratefully and enters the ship, the ramp closing behind her. 

In the cockpit, she headed for the copilot’s seat only to find her way blocked by a massive, hirsute form. A series of moans came from the Wookie then he turned, sitting down in the copilot’s seat. 

Rey felt herself tearing up, sitting down and settling herself in the driver’s seat. She could do this. If Chewbacca felt she could do it, then who was she to dispute him? As she hesitated, the Wookie reached over and mussed her hair. Grinning, she made a show of trying to slap his hand away. He had no idea how much this innocent, familiar gesture meant to her. Behind them, R2-D2 beeped happily. 

Facing forward again, she completed a last scan of the console, assuring herself she knew where everything was. From experiences, she knew that the Falcon was a forgiving ship. She intended to do right by it. Reaching out, she let her fingers play over the controls. Besides her, Chewie did likewise as he groaned his approval. 

The Millennium Falcon rose, heading directly into the sky and blasting to lightspeed. 

On the Supremacy, Nova was in her chambers which was bigger than her old one that had been on the Finalizer. It came with a bathroom with a walk in shower, a big bed that was meant for two people, a mini lounging and kitchen area. It was like a home. The only other person who had a room like this was Kylo’s but not even he had the luxury to feel the silk sheets of the bed, or even step foot in his own quarters. 

Ever since Starkiller Base he had been recovering in the medbay, his wounds in bacta and resting. No one was allowed to see him except for Hux which made Nova upset but she wasn’t the one to argue with him on such matters. She just stayed held up in her room, constantly eyeing Kylo’s lightsaber and helmet that sat on her nightstand along with the kyber crystal that he had gifted her. She hadn’t touched it since that night which felt like years ago; it fell out of his pocket as he was carried to the sick bay, pitter pattering across the glossy floors and she picked it up. It felt rather heavy and warm in her palm and she stared at it for the longest time, enclosing her fingers around it. 

Nova tucked her hair behind her ears, thinking for a moment then gazes to herself in the mirror. She ditched her old outfit, wearing a standard First Order uniform like Hux’s until she finished creating her current clothing project with the help of a servant droid that usually came around in the late afternoon. She places the winged cap on her head, standing straight and she hardly recognized herself, making her rip off the stupid looking cap and tossing it into the nearby trash bin with a sigh. 

In the mirror, her eyes shift to spot the lightsaber of Kylo’s and without a second thought, she throws out her hand and without a second to waste, it flies directly into her hand. It entertained her how easily it reaches for her, like it was her owner though that wasn’t the case at all. Opening her palm, she focused and it began levitating as she concentrated. Flexing her pointer and middle fingers, the hilt rotated around and she smiled with delight. Testing her ability even more, she removes her hand, dropping it down at her side as the lightsaber still continues to float mindlessly. Nova then squints, feeling a presence from behind and drops the lightsaber, catching it in her left hand. 

A knock signals on the door to her quarters and she leaves the bedroom, heading out to the door and calls on the Force to open it. It does, showing Hux who stood there facing her in his newest uniform and ginger hair gelled back. 

“Ms. Hux,” he smiles sincerely, standing in parade rest. “I’d like to happily inform you that Commander Ren is awake.” 

Nova didn’t need to be told twice, she bolted out of her quarters, the Force slamming it behind her as she ran directly for the medbay. 

Kylo was in his own private room so when she showed up, no one else was there except for him. He was sitting up, dressed in a black clad tunic complete with leather pants, kneehigh boots, and belt, and like everything else, it was new. His scarred face had been closed with microsutures, but he would bear a scar for the rest of his life. And his abdomen ached from where Chewbacca’s bowcaster had struck—a fatal strike if he hadn’t contained its energy with the Force. 

“Ben.” Nova rushes for him, giving him a tight hug and he is frozen for a moment. It was too sudden, too fast, but gradually, his nimble and muscular arms wrapped around her waist and settled there. 

When he woke up in his hospital bed, he expected her to be gone, to have run off with her sister and he wouldn’t have blamed her if she did. Nova still had the chance to return home, he didn’t so when he felt her presence and finally her arms around him, it seemed like he had already found a place close to home. 

Kylo shuts his eyes, soaking in her embrace, realizing that this just might be the only time that he ever would or could. He held her for the longest time, feeling her relief and liberation. She was truly happy to see him, and it was a beautiful feeling to sense from her; from anyone really. 

“I have your lightsaber,” she comments, peeking her eyes open to see it still in her hand as she hugged him. “And your helmet.” 

Together they left but not before Nova gave him his saber back. 

Back in Nova’s chambers, she fetched his helmet and he lowered his head, allowing her pleasure to place it upon his head as if it were a crown. She does, hearing it latch and backs away, seeing him hold his head high and becoming Commander Kylo Ren once again. Over on the nightstand, the kyber crystal began glowing unbeknownst to them. 

The planet was mostly ocean, dotted with a sprinkling of towering islands formed of black rock: the throats of volcanoes whose slopes had long since eroded away. Greenery caped the stony flanks, falling in emerald waves toward the azure sea. Above the calm waters, flying creatures soared on wide wings of translucent white. 

A great uproar broke out among the wheeling flocks as something larger and louder than any of them descended toward the surface. The Falcon banked toward one of the bigger islands, slowing as it did so. 

The ramp descended and the ship’s crew emerged. Wookie and droid looked on as Rey, her old staff strapped to her back, began working her way up the steep, jungle incline before her. Occasionally she would pause to catch her breath and to look back. Each time, Chewbacca would wave. Had he been equipped to do so, R2-D2 would have done likewise. 

So old were the stone steps she ascended that grooves had been worn in the front edges by the tramp of thousands of footsteps. The climb was steep, the air humid, and she felt herself tiring. But the thought of stopping never once entered her mind. 

Eventually, finally, she found herself in a small clearing occupied by several modest stone structures. The prospect was unbearably primitive. Within the structures there was no movement save for the hurried retreat of small, covert creatures. 

She halted abruptly. There was . . . something. She turned sharply. 

Some distance from her, at the periphery of the clearing, stood a figure shrouded in a simple cloak and robe. It did not matter that it was facing away from her. She knew instantly who it was. Yell all she could do was stare in silence. 

Whether motivated by her stare or by something unknown, the figure finally turned toward her and pulled back his hood. Luke Skywalker. His hair and beard were white, and his countenance was haunted. He did not speak, nor did she. 

Remembering, Rey reached into her haversack and removed the lightsaber. Taking several steps forward, she held it out to him. An offer. A plea. The galaxy’s only hope. 

She wondered what would happen next.


	10. Monarch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The First Order reigns. Having decimated the peaceful Republic, Supreme Leader Snoke now deploys his merciless legions to seize military control of the galaxy.
> 
> Only General Leia Organa’s band of Resistance fighters stand against the rising tyranny, certain that Jedi Master Luke Skywalker will return and restore a spark of hope to the fight from the help of Rey.
> 
> But the Resistance has been exposed. As the First Order speeds toward the rebel base, the brave heroes mount a desperate escape.

Once there was a boy who grew up to become a Jedi Knight. Not just any Jedi, but one of the greatest in their history, a valiant hero who toppled an evil empire. He was also the last of their kind. 

For a thousand generations, the Jedi Knights had been the guardians of peace and justice throughout the galaxy. With their connection to the Force, they could perform astonishing feats, influence minds, and perceive glimpses of what was and what might be. Yet for all their foresight, the Jedi failed to foresee their own future. One of their order turned against them, hunting down the other Jedi until their numbers were few and their light was all but extinguished. 

The boy knew none of this growing up. What he did know was the barren desert of his home, where water was more valuable than gold. 

He had a happy childhood. His aunt and uncle raised him on their moisture farm, and he was their son in all but name. His uncle could be cranky, but taught him everything from fixing vaporators to flying airspeeders, and his aunt was warm, spoiling him when she could. Like many boys his age, he was impatient, curious, and a bit brash. He had a talent for tinkering and a passion for speed. 

He also had dreams. 

In the evenings after he’d finish his chores, he would go out and watch the binary sunset. The twin suns would descend below the dunes, one blazing white hot and the other orange red. Cast in the amber light, the boy would wonder about himself, who he was, where he would go, what he could become. He dreamed of getting off his dull and dusty homeworld and training to be a pilot, so he could sail through the depths of space, so he could see the stars. 

He dreamed of being like his father. 

What little the boy knew of his father he had learned from his uncle, in snatches and grumbles. Supposedly, his father had been a navigator on a spice freighter, yet something tragic happened. His uncle had never elaborated insisting the boy quit daydreaming and accept life on the homestead. There was no shame in being a moisture farmer. No shame at all. 

Years passed and the boy was now an old man. He stood on a cliff overlooking a great sea. He wore sackcloth robes under a woolen cloak. A hood protected his face from the wind. The water before him stretched to the horizon like the dune seas of his home, broken only by mountainous islands. He had come to this forgotten world to retire in solitude. All his dreams he has fulfilled long before. He had flown the depths of space, seen the stars and all the light and darkness between. He had nothing more to give and desired nothing in return. He just wanted to be left alone, in peace. 

But after many years, he had been found. 

He turned slowly from the sea. A girl stood on the other side of the plateau and she approached, stopping within a few paces of him. He hesitated before he reached up with his hands—one of flesh and blood, the other of metal and wire—and pulled down his hood. For a long moment, he and the girl beheld each other, quiet with their own thoughts. 

She had dark brown hair, pulled back in triple buns. Her vest grey and tunic the color of sand. Grey clad gauntlets covered her wrists and padded the elbows, her trousers were short, exposing fair skinned calves above dark brown woven boots. She carried a quarterstaff that appeared salvaged from a gear axle. A worn canvas satchel dangled from her hip. Freckles dotted her face. 

She slung the strap of her staff over her shoulder and opened her satchel, removing a chrome cylinder about half the length of her arm. It was the hilt of a lightsaber. She held it out to him. 

He inhaled deeply, and trembled. 

This lightsaber had once belonged to him, and to his father before him. He had lost the weapon when he had lost his hand, during a fateful duel in a city among the clouds. He had thought it gone, forever, yet somehow it had been found, as had he. 

He clenched his jaw and frowned. He didn’t take the lightsaber from her. 

Her grip on the device wavered. She blinked. Her confusion gave way to distress. Yet still she held the hilt out to him. She wanted him to have it. She pleaded with her gaze. 

The man’s frown broke. His eyes moistened. The lightsaber carried so many memories. Too many. He shouldn’t accept it. Not now. Not after so long. 

His metal fingers touched the hilt and took it from her. He stood there, near the edge of the cliff, considering the lightsaber in his grasp. It felt as light and familiar as it had the first time he had held it, back when he was around the girl’s age. The old hermit who had given it to him said his father had built the lightsaber himself and had wanted his son to have it, but the boy’s uncle wouldn’t allow it. 

That day, so long before, was the day his life had changed, It was the day he no longer had only dreams. It was the day he suddenly had a destiny and a part of him wished that he never touched the lightsaber. 

That destiny of his carried throughout the galaxy, stirred spirits as people learned of him; of Luke Skywalker and he was the living embodiment of hope. The boy from Tatooine destroyed the first Death Star and dethroned the Emperor with his bravery. And that was the important thing, that bravery demonstrated how a single person could make a difference, even in the darkest of times.

Rey looked at him standing on the cliff, noticing that there was something not quite right about him, something proudly sad. The blue in his eyes had faded. Wrinkles burdened his brow. His hair was unkempt, peppered white and grey like his beard, and his robes were disheveled and grimy but it didn’t trouble her. He was still a Jedi and could teach her more about her special talents, which she could not comprehend by herself. And he could help save the Resistance from the First Order, as he had saved the Rebellion from the Empire.

With a swift snap of his wrist, Luke flung the lightsaber over his shoulder, off the cliff, toward the sea without saying a word. Rey felt her hopes fall with it. 

He strode past her with barely a look, his robes swishing about him. She stood there, confounded. Had she made a mistake? Has she somehow insulted him? They hadn’t even exchanged a word. All she’d done was present the lightsaber that had belonged to him years before. 

“Master Skywalker?” 

Rey followed him up the way she had come staff now in hand, then down the hill into mounds of stacked stones that formed primitive dwellings that bristled with lightning rods on the roofs. Luke walked into the biggest hut then slammed the door behind him. 

Rey paused at the hut. Perhaps a more formal introduction was in order. “Master Skywalker, I’m from the Resistance. Your sister Leia sent me. We need your help.” 

He didn’t answer. 

Rey leaned in close to the door, listening in as she knocked on the metal door with the end of her quarterstaff. “Hello?” 

Again, he ignored her. 

Leia had told Rey that her brother had become withdrawn since she’d seen him, but Rey hasn’t imagined he’d be so plain rude. In the old stories about him, he had always come off sunny and sociable, a person who was friendly with everyone. 

Rey remained there for some time, not knocking again. When it became obvious he wasn’t going to come out or let her inside, she tried the door handle. It was locked. 

Growing weary, she walked away. She thought about how she had gotten here, to this lonely island on this lost world. Weeks before, she had been scouring the desert for any scrap she could sell to buy her next meal. Since then, she had been on an adventure as incredible as anything from the old tales and had made new friends, one of friends, one of whom she deeply missed. The last time she’d seen Finn, he lay in a coma, recovering from wounds he’d received defending her against Kylo Ren. Her mind then went to her big sister, Nova and how she had defended Kylo. How could she care for someone who had murdered his own loving father in front of her? She couldn’t understand but at the same time, she had _seen_ all that he did for her. 

Maybe love knew no boundaries, she theorized. 

Rey’s wanderings took her back to the cliff. She stopped where Luke had stood and stared out at the sea. It surrounded the island, vasy and grey. Never in all her life has she seen so much water. Unlike the wastelands of Jakku, where salt burned her eyes and parched her throat, the briny smell of the sea refreshed her. 

She looked around at the island. The ancient staircase, the huts, the stone wall that prevented the cliffs from eroding into the sea; it was all a mystery as was most everything about this remote world, including the odd creatures on the cliff below her. 

Thousands upon thousands of a small birdlike species had turned the cliff wall into a busy breeding ground. The most prominent of them flaunted orange head feathers and strutted around as if they were on display. Rey assumed they were the males, trying to attract the attention of grey colored females who by and large wanted nothing to do with them. Those in the colony not engaged in peacocking bumbled from rock to rock on webbed feet or nuzzled each other with wet snouts. Some nested, others perched, a few burrowed, and a couple flew, diving into the water to scoop up tiny fish. They reminded Rey of the bloggins on Jakku, though in place of stalks, these avians had round black eyes and appeared smarter simply by not running about willy nilly. She doubted, however, that their feathers made soft pillows.

An object glinted on a grassy ledge partway down the cliff. Rey squinted. Could it be what she thought it was?

After testing her feet on the stone, she lowered herself down the stone wall. The descent was steep, the going slow. It took her awhile to get down to the patch and there lay Luke’s lightsaber, surrounded by a gaggle of the little animals. By some miracle, it had not fallen into the sea. 

The avians screeched and flapped away as she leaned down, grabbing the lightsaber and sat down to rest. 

A familiar shape caught her eye in a tide pool below. Submerged in the calm waters was an old X-wing starfighter, of the kind she had scavenged on Jakku. She guessed it was Luke’s, the X-wing he had flown during the Battle of Yavin, when he’d launched the proton torpedo that took out the Death Star. But the rust that rotted its frame indicated he had no intention of flying it again, to leave the planet. 

Rey would have to change those intentions if she was going to save her friends in the Resistance. 

She returned to the bluff where she had landed the Millennium Falcon. Her copilot, Chewbacca, knelt on the top of the ship, his long hairy arms digging inside an open access panel. The classic model astromech droid, R2-D2, stood below on his two hydraulic legs, offering encouraging beeps. But Chewbacca wasn’t having any of it, growling in frustration. 

“Chewie, what are you doing?” Rey asked the Wookie. “I thought you’d taken out the compressor.” 

Chewbacca grunted back at her and yanked out a bunch of shredded cables. Having spent many lonesome nights on Jakku learning languages, Rey understood the basics of what he said. A pest had somehow wiggled under the Falcon’s armor plating and was nibbling on the cables. 

“Mynock?” 

Chewbacca reached deeper into the cables and, with a yelp of pain, pulled out a member of the squat avian species she had seen on the cliff. It’s feathers were coated in generator grease and it had latched its tiny mouth onto one of Chewbacca’s fingers. The Wookie howled and waved his arm to try to shake it off of him, but it wouldn’t let go. Only when he was about to whack the creature against the panel did it release its hold. It fluttered on stubby wings and made a gentle landing near Rey. Instead of flying off, it waddled away toward the cliff. 

R2-D2 tittered and Rey laughed. But her amusement ended abruptly when Chewbacca asked if Luke was coming to join them. 

Luke Skywalker wanted to be left alone. He’s come to Ahch-To for that purpose, to divorce himself from the rest of the galaxy once and for all. And after years of living here, he had foolishly convinced himself he was safe. 

He also knew that Leia would find him one day. She was his twin sister, after all, a Skywalker, strong in the Force. Stubborn, too. A woman who would not give up until she got what she needed. 

Luke himself had grown stubborn over the years. He loved his sister, but he would stand his ground. For there was a reason Ahch-To’s location had been hidden. The world held many secrets—secrets Luke pledged to protect. 

Inside his hut, Luke changed into a dark tunic and trousers and folded his Jedi robes in a storage chest. Once everything was neatly in place, he closed his eyes and relaxed. His worries began to vanish, one after another. Peace took hold. 

A banging at the door broke his meditation and Luke’s eyes flicked open. His irritation returned. “Go away.” 

The door rattled and, with a crack, broke from its frame. An enormous brown haired Wookie tossed the door aside and marched into his hut and roared. 

“Chewie, what are you doing here?” 

Chewbacca roared as Leia’s young messenger entered behind him. “He said you’re coming back with us,” the girl said.

“How’d you find me?” He addressed Chewbacca.

Rey spoke first. “Long story. We’ll tell you on the Falcon.” 

“Falcon?” Luke craned his neck to glance at her then out the doorway. No one else was there. “Wait. Where’s Han?” 

Rey looked away from him and Chewbacca mewled. Their sadness said it all. 

Han Solo was dead. 

The twin suns of Ach-To bathed the village in the soft gold of afternoon. But the warm light gave little comfort to the three people seated outside the huts, especially Rey, The story she had began with how befriended Finn turned into tragedy and hurt as she revealed that her long lost sister Nova was with the First Order and Kylo Ren, who had murdered his own father. 

“Han Solo was my friend,” she said.

It was obvious Han had been the same to Luke Skywalker, even if they hadn’t seen each other in years. The Jedi Master appeared shaken. Sitting next to him, Chewbacca moaned. 

Rey returned to the purpose of her visit. “Leia showed me projections of the First Order’s military. It’s massive, and now that the Republic is destroyed, there’s nothing to stop them. They will control all the major systems within weeks. They’ll destroy the Resistance, Finn, everyone I care about. Will you help us? You have to help us,” she pleaded. “We need the Jedi Order back. We need Luke Skywalker.” 

Luke’s face hid nothing. Sadness was etched across it, but also wisdom and kindness. He was not someone who could turn his back on those in danger. 

“No,” Luke said. 

Rey thought she misheard him. “What?” 

“You don’t _need_ Luke Skywalker.” 

Rey jumped up, wanting to howl at him but she was mostly baffled by it all. “Did you hear a word I just said?” 

Her insistence got her nowhere with Luke. “You think, what, that I’m going to walk out with a laser sword and face down the whole First Order?” He asked. “The Jedi, if you had them back, a few dozen knights in robes, what do you think they would actually do?” 

Rey recalled a phrase she had learned from the Jedi legends. “Restore the . . . balance of . . .”

Luke shook his head, rising from the ground. “What did you think was going to happen here?” Do you think I don’t know my friends are suffering, that I came to the most unfindable place in the galaxy for no reason at all?” 

“Then why did you come here?” Rey snapped back. 

Luke glanced at Chewbacca, who had remained quiet, as if he understood something about Luke that Rey did not. Then the Jeid bunched up his robes and headed to his hut, lifting the door back into its frame. 

“I’m not leaving without you,” Rey called after him. 

Pieces float before Nova’s closed eyes, being guided with the help of the Force to be fitted together perfectly and effortlessly to create her lightsaber. Using her senses Nova lifts her hand, directing the black metal hilt to join in with the emitter and lifts her other hand to reach for the archon pommel. As the black lightsaber was being combined together, the kyber crystal vibrates and levitates up into the air to place itself within the energy chamber. Lastly, the final touch: the activation switch. Complete. 

Cross legged and floating high, Nova opens her eyes to see her black and silver rimmed lightsaber. It would be foolish of her to say that it wasn’t inspired by Kylo’s because it certainly was, but unlike his, hers was slender and only had one blade and no quillons. The last four days had been vigorous training and expanding her powers within the Force, connecting to it with little to no pressure. It flowed through her, became an extension of herself, and she was now ready. Starkiller Base tested her, Snoke pushed her, and now, it was the final test. The lightsaber and—

She grabs for her lightsaber in a quick snatch, her body arching back and flipping down onto the ground just in time to move out a blaster’s firing aim. Side of the room, there stood Vicrul with a pistol in his right and his annealed phrik scythe blade in his left. He wore a case hardened pastillion ore helmet and a coat made from an unknown, monstrously large reptile. Vicrul preferred to eliminate his targets at close range but the blaster pistol was used to throw off the unexpecting, which _clearly_ wasn’t Nova in the slightest. No, he didn’t do it for a cheap, winning shot. He did it to let her know that _it_ has begun. 

Nova runs for him but still maintains distance, not wanting to get too close. Vicrul was a force sensitive warrior, one of the six Knights of Ren and he had a special, latent ability that he used during one on one fights. He had the power to magnify and project fear in his prey, and though it was uncontrolled and unbidden, Nova wasn’t taking chances. He was untrained but he still had fighting skills and a martial prowess that only few could rival. 

She pushes the activation button, a vibrant red blade emitting from her hilt and casting it’s glow off the glossy floors which reflects on Nova’s black leather boots, raw silk pants, and clad tunic. Her dark red viscose sashes and gauze wrapped arms seemed to compliment the matching weapon, showing the symbolism that she was one with the Force and more importantly, a First Order advocate. 

Another barrage from his blaster pistol and Nova deflects every single one with her blade easily, aiming the shots back at him and Vicrul maneuvered through as they whizz past and hit the wall behind which left smoldering spots. She twirls her lightsaber around to flourish and calls on the Force, jumping up to match his tall height and brings down the butt end of her lightsaber onto his skull and helmet. The impact sent the Knight of Ren back down on the ground, Nova landing on top but she quickly recovers, lifting her lightsaber up high with both hands on the hilt. Striking downwards, her blade is met with his scythe and the muscles in her arms began to ache as she strained them to push harder against his weapon. Vibrosonic energy and plasma both interlocked in a duel. 

Suddenly and furiously, Vicrul used his strength and the Force to propel Nova over his body and she flew through the open space. With her left hand, she opened her palm as her back went parallel to the ground and used the Force to have her stop just inches from the crushing fall. A sigh of relief and she releases, being gently settled down and spins her legs up and around which grants her momentum to stand on her feet and whip back to face the Knight. A new presence filled the air, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand and she crouches down as a smoke canister is thrown, filling up the room. Ap’lek. 

Ap’lek was another Knight of Ren and revels in deception. He loves to employ feints and misdirection to trap his opponents which is why he always carried smoke canisters; to disrupt sensors and obscure vision. He was able to see through the heavy smog with his own nascent Force abilities. 

Nova squints, not being able to see Vicrul’s, nor Ap’lek’s, feet from the low vantage point and stands again, focusing on her breathing. Force sensitives can feel others in the Force, she knew, but just like clockwork, Vicrul’s power came into play. 

She felt like her lungs were squeezing the life out of her, leaving her throat clenched and lips begging for crisp air. Her ears filled with hearing young Rey’s cries and screams for their parents, for her when she was taken away from Jakku and to another system. She tries to shrug it off but it’s overwhelming, feeling so real and visceral until she forces herself to close her eyes and to signal out their presences. 

It takes short minutes but she sorts through the Force, finding Vicrul standing back as Ap’lek began charging up on quick feet, booming steps, and raised his vibro-axe to strike her with the ultrasonic transmission blades and gore channels that cut into any kind of surface other than a lightsaber. She sidesteps efficiently, moving out of his path swiftly and with her eyes closed, wielded her lightsaber and began batting at his axe. Blow after blow after blow, Nova defended herself, playing smarter not harder. At the last strike from Ap’lek, she jabbed the heel of her boot down into shin to make him give ground and threw out her arm, Force pushing him back into the wall. 

Opening her eyes, she met the sinister face of his battered helmet and patchwork mask that was cobbled together from old armor. It gave off an unsettling rictus, to show that he was delighted in wreaking havoc with his Mandalorian executioner’s axe. He wore a water shedding oiled cloak and gauntlets with raised teeth to assist in parrying and pinning edged attacks. 

Running ensues and Nova whips around, her lightsaber spitting sparks as it locks with a massive vibrocleaver that belonged to none other than Trudgen. The ultrasonic technology of the edge of his blade rapidly vibrates due to its extra cutting power that he added on to modify the traditional, primitive weapon. His fragment helmet was of a Death Trooper’s which meant that Trudgen had killed one with remarkable achievement given their strength and rarity. He wore a tunic made of scavenged armor plates and a cloak and hood of heavy weave tabard, and a belt that carried a secondary blade on him. 

Using her strength, Nova throws him off, giving ground and twirls her lightsaber around as a warding off notion as Trudgen regains his footing and Vicrul and Ap’lek circle around her like vultures waiting to pick at a carcass. She levels out her saber before her, crouching down in a fighting stance, awaiting for their next move as the air buzzed with electricity, tension, and irrefutable power. 

Ushar appeared out of her left eye, wearing his helmet that had breathing tubes and anti-ox filters which suggested that he was of non-human origin unlike the others. It bears the crumple mark of a particularly feisty prisoner who retaliated and the desperate action gave Ushar his respect, and a quick death. That was his thing. He tests the mettle of his victims; those who whimper for help are deserving of slow punishment and for those who fight back, they’re lauded and granted a quick execution with his brutish war club that has a studded length of metal topped with a pommel that can store and then unleash kinetic energy in a deadly concussive wave. He wore ironweave vambraces which made for a crushing backhand, a belt over his shoulder which contained a sheath that held a vibromachete and thermal detonators which were shaped baradium charges to make devastating area-effective weapons. 

Five Knights currently surrounded her, enclosing her in and she waited, knowing that there were two missing from the count. They’d be waiting for their own strikes, their own turns. 

Unlike her previous training, these men were real and not holograms, and they were able to access the Force at certain times. Nova just had to wait for the perfect moment to make play. 

Ushar makes the first swing with his club, Nova ducking under in a swift movement and Force flips backwards over Ap’lek as his axe comes flying towards her stomach to try and strike her body in two. He twirls around and she blocks his blade with her own, both holding stance and she bends her knees to help stabilize her footing, gritting her teeth in effort. 

Vicrul charges and she throws off Ushar’s weapon before clashing against his scythe with her lightsaber with an under attack and swirling it off to the side to have him give ground. A missed shot of wild flame shoots between them and Nova whips her head over, seeing Cardo’s wide-bore flamethrower arm cannon that he had customized himself. He loved weapon modifications and it made him the best armorer of the Knights. He wore plasma bolt shells on his belt and concussion grenades in his chest strap along with his very own riftiaworm hide coat that was flame resistant. His shins bear tri-braced plasteel armor greaves while his left leg had a thigh holster for his blaster pistol which was as deadly as his right hand. He had the gift of extreme precision which left swathes of destruction wherever he was. 

Around the lightsaber twists and turns in Nova’s right hand, her charging straight for Cardo. Slashing down to the left then to the right, she brings up her weapon and double hands the hilt before bringing it down on his arm cannon but not before Trudgen intercepts the blow. He throws off Nova with the Force and she slams directly onto the ground with a thud, the air being knocked from her lungs and her hand releasing her lightsaber which deactivated and scattered across the glossy floor. 

Groaning and coughing, she barely has time to register how Ushar is towering over her with his club and hammers it down an instant towards her body with all of his strength. She rolls away and the club strikes the ground before it’s picked up again and Ushar makes his second attempt. Nova is missed as she rolls back to where she previously was and quickly places her fingers out spread and palms up against the vector vanes of the club as it comes plummeting down at an extreme rate. Frozen and vibrating in place within a few inches of her, the club was caught between a tug of war of being used and restrained. Nova’s fingers began shaking from holding it off, Ushar using his own impeccable violence and force on the weapon which inched closer and closer towards her face. She winced, her jaw clenching tight and she focused on her breathing. 

If she was to pass this test, she’d need to use all she knew about the Knights against them. And that’s exactly what she was going to do. 

She closed her eyes, feeling for the Force and how it ran through her, the Kyber Crystal that resided within her black hilt that was settled on the opposite side of the room. As it was a part of the Knights, outlined the First Order officers like Armitage Hux and Captain Edrison Peavey, and radiated off one being in particular like a personal storm cloud accompanied with it. 

Fortifying herself, she peels her eyelids back, revealing her sight on Ushar and pressing upwards with her arms. The club backed off and Ushar’s shaking limbs tried to counteract the action but it was no use, Nova was harvesting the Force from all around her; including from the Knights themselves. 

With a grunting holler, Nova pushes upwards forcibly and Ushar is bulleted back and lands on the ground with a smack. She shifts herself onto her knees, seeing Vicrul coming up and stands, running for him and Force jumps up as she feels the fear manifesting off of him to try and tap into her anxiety and worries. Placing her leg over his left shoulder and pressing her hand to his helmet, she manipulated his power through the Force and turned it on him to provide him with terror. In a daze, Vicrul stood and acted on his trepidation, turning and twisting all around in dread. 

A new being entered the atmosphere and even with his soft soled boots, Nova was able to hear the Night Buzzard pilot, Kuruk. He was the one most likely to remain behind and to perch to cover the rest of the Knights with his precision marksmanship. His coat was made of sound dampening susurra weave fabric, wore plasma bolt shells that were stowed in his collar loops, and his helmet had blinder panels to keep his vision forwards and the eye holes were cut for peripheral line of sight. The mouthpiece was a screen and a vocoder grid for whenever he spoke which was rare. His weapon was a multi-barreled custom designed rifle which had rapid fire, sniping, and pump action plasma bolt firing capabilities. His ability through the Force was his sharpshooter skills. Kuruk aimed for her with his rifle from behind and Cardo aimed with his blaster pistol too. Both Knights who were incredible shots, going for the target? Too easy. 

She leaps high and back into the air as they both shoot, each blast going for one another and out they both went, getting knocked to the ground by the hits to the shoulders and she three point landed. Breathing heavily, she watches as Ap’lek steps up next to Trudgen and ready their weapons for their final fight. Once again Nova stands tall, balling up her fists and nods for them to give her all they got. 

Trudgen was first: slashing, dicing, weaving. Nova parried and dodged mindlessly, like second nature, no second thoughts being thrown around. He was getting impatient, wanting to land a hit but Nova was too fast, too smart for her own good. Trudgen nicks at her boot and she kneels down hard, whimpering loudly and satisfied, the Knight heaves his cleaver over his shoulder to strike true. 

Unbeknownst to him, Nova planned this entire set up and as the blade came down, it froze a foot above her head without her even breaking a sweat. He was bewildered at this and Nova peers up, her smirking. 

“Gotcha.” She called upon her lightsaber, the hilt flying into her hand in a reverse grip that she hid behind herself and ignited it. 

Bringing it under, she strikes up against his cleaver to have him stumble backward and she shoots up on her feet, spinning around as she doublehanded the hilt and bats at his blade back and forth in a vicious cycle. She parries, blocks, and lunges repeatedly until she tosses the lightsaber over into her left hand, reverse grips it and extends out her right to call on his secondary blade. Once it landed into her hand, she swung and sliced with both the machete and her lightsaber; cutting his coat with the long knife and sending powerful jolts through his cleaver with the saber. 

Ap’lek came coursing in, placing his axe in front of Nova and she locked it with the secondary blade, the long knife clashing out of her hand and onto the ground. He placed out his hand to her, nerve racking her brain as her sensory became shifted. She powered through though, closing her eyes and solely using the Force to guide her and began fighting blind and with precision. 

One against two. 

Capturing Trudgen’s cleaver and ripping her eyes open, Nova threw out an arm to where she sensed Ap’lek was and his axe flew from his hand right into hers which was an unexpected move to them and even to her. No one had ever disarmed a Knight before with the Force, but she just had. Nova was the first. She used it to knock the cleaver away from her lightsaber, freeing it as she then Force kicked Trudgen in the gut, sending him back and away defenseless and tumbling on the floor. She then turned towards Ap’lek, the last remaining Knight and felt how both her lightsaber and his axe hummed in her hands. 

Within the next three steps that she took, Nova swung the back of the axe at his leg and took him down, propelling it over at Ushar who was trying to get up and attack once again, and aimed the tip of her lightsaber at Ap’lek who was trying to reach for Cardo’s blaster with the Force. _Checkmate_. 

Ap’lek gave her a nod and she backed off, the red blade disabling and held out her hand to him to help him up. The Knights all surrounded her in silence, an understanding sweeping over them as they all took a knee, bowing before Nova and granting her their approval and respect which she had earned. Her test had been passed, her training had been completed and she established her own spot next to Commander Kylo Ren as a monarch. Monarch Nova Hux. 

A change in the air caused Nova to lift her head slightly from the Knights of Ren, sensing how the Finalizer arrived just outside of the Resistance base D’Qar in the middle of their evacuation. She draws in a deep breath, sensing Hux’s smugness and how he was pleased with this delightful timing—and what gratifying moment it truly was. Armitage Hux had been in charge for the past four days while Kylo was in remission, Nova found her new placement within the Knights of Ren and became the newest star pupil within Supreme Leader Snoke’s eye. Now, they have found the Resistance and were hunting them down like blood thirsty mutts that were scratching and clawing, and foaming at the mouth with revenge. 

Sooner than what Nova believes, she’ll learn of what the Supreme Leader just has in store for her.


	11. Rabid Cur

“We knew that was coming,” Poe muttered on the bridge of the Resistance cruiser Raddus, standing next to General Leia Organa and her protocol droid, C-3PO, whose coverings had been recently buffed to a bright and shiny brass. But there was nothing bright or shiny in what captured their attention. Above a communications table the holograms of three dark hulled warships blinked into existence, setting off alarms and panic across the bridge. 

Admiral Ackbar, the Mono Calamari military genius who had directed the Rebel Alliance’s triumph at Endor, manipulated the table’s controls with his webbed hands. Two of the warships were identified as First Order Star Destroyers, the Fellfire and General Hux’s flagship, the Finalizer. The other was the massive cannon-leden Dreadnought Fulminatrix.

The Resistance had recently obtained intelligence about the First order’s fleet from a pair of battle hardened spies. Not only did the data include detailed schematics of the Dreadnought, it showed that the enemy’s navy was much larger than anyone had estimated. Anticipating the First Order would retaliate for the destruction of Starkiller Base, the Resistance leadership had begun the evacuation of their secret headquarters on D’Qar in earnest. But what no one had foreseen was how quickly the First Order would locate their hideout. 

Poe pressed the transceiver button on the table. “Connix, is the base fully evacuated?” 

Lieutenant Kaydel Ko Connix’s image appeared on a monitor. Her long blonde hair was knotted in side buns, and her natural smile wavered under stress. “Still loading the last batch of transports,” she said. “We need more time!” 

A glance out the viewport showed freighters, transports, and personnel shuttles rocketing away from the green orb of D’Qar. All headed toward the Raddus or one of the three other capital ships that made up the Resistance’s meager starfleet: the spindly hospital frigate Anodyne, the bunker buster Ninka, and the cargo hauler Vigil. But it was clear that many wouldn’t make it to safety, since they lay in the firing range of the Destroyers and Dreadnought. 

Poe wished he were out there in his X-wing defending the evacuees instead of stuck on the bridge as a spectator. The mechanics had just mounted a souped up booster engine to his starfighter and there seemed no better time than the present to put it to use. 

Poe turned to General Organa. She was the last living princess of Alderaan and had witnessed firsthand her homeworld’s annihilation by the Empire’s Death Star. Her hair was rolled into a neat tuck and she wore a regal mantle over a plain silk gown, both in black. If not for the color of her dress, Poe never would have known she was mourning the death of her husband, Han Solo. He could only imagine the heartache she was hiding under her poise. 

“You’ve got an idea,” she said to him, “but I won’t like it.” She didn’t make him explain himself. “Go.” 

Poe issued a remote command to his astromech, BB-8, from his wrist comm and rushed to the cruiser’s hangar. When he got there, BB-8 was already secured in the socket of Poe’s X-wing, Black One. Poe climbed into the pilot’s seat. 

The starfighter shot out of the cruiser’s hangar, its S-foils clamped and wings closed for maximum velocity. Poe called up an overview of the Fulminatrix on his cockpit display. Larger than the other vessels, the Dreadnought resembled three Star Destroyers welded atop each other in the form of a sinister, three layered spearpoint. Turbolaser guns along its upper hull turned toward the Resistance fleet in orbit while the huge autocannons on its belly began to charge with energy. Poe’s job was to stall the Dreadnought from firing those autocannons at D’Qar until the evacuation of the base was complete. 

General Armitage Hux stood on the gleaming black bridge of the Finalizer, gazing out at the blue-green planet floating in the black space peppered with white specks and watching the four Resistance ships that were in orbit. “We’ve caught them in the middle of their evacuation,” Captain Edrison Peavey says. 

Hux grins, standing in a parade rest in the center of all the activity. “I have my orders from Supreme Leader Snoke himself. This is where we snuff out the Resistance once and for all.” He then calls out. “Tell Captain Canady to prime his Dreadnought. Incinerate their base, destroy their transports and obliterate their fleet.” 

The door to the bridge opens and Nova roams in in her black and red clad outfit, with her newly manufactured lightsaber clipped to her black belt. She steps directly next to Armitage, seeing the Resistance’s fleet fleeting. 

“Nice of you to join us on this happy occasion, Ms. Hux.” General Hux comments without tearing his eyes away from the viewport. 

An alarm beeps off to the side and a technician speaks. “General, Resistance ship approaching. Guns and shields in attack mode.”

Hux furrowed his brow and lingered over, taking a look at the screen. Unable to grasp the notion, he mutters, “A single light fighter.” He gives a bewildered look to Captain Edrison while Nova stepped up to the window, and spotted the black and orange starfighter.

As they approached, BB-8 squawked his displeasure, which the X-wing’s computer translated as he had a bad feeling about this. 

“Happy beeps, buddy. We’ve pulled crazier stunts than this. Remember that one with Anya?” Poe said. While that might be true, he also knew one hit from a turbolaser and they’d be goners. 

“Just for the record, Commander Dameron, I’m with the droid on this one,” General Organa said over the private comm channel. 

“Thanks for your support, General,” Poe replied, amused that she was listening to his in-flight chitchat. But that was what made her an exceptional general. Her eyes and ears were everywhere, never missing a detail. “Happy beeps,” he repeated, to calm his own nerves.

C-3PO’s network of spy droids has reported that the head of the First Order’s military, General Hux, had survived the destruction of Starkiller Base. With Poe out and about, it was time to see if that intelligence was indeed correct. Poe signaled the Finalizer in a subspace broadcast. 

“Attention. This is Poe Dameron of the Republic fleet, I have an urgent message for General Hugs,” he said, intentionally mispronouncing the general’s name. 

Nova stifled a laugh, turning to see Hux’s turning a slight shade of pink from all eyes in the room going on him. He tells one technician to patch him through and once he does, he speaks. “This is General Hux of the First Order. The Republic is no more. Your fleet are rebel scum and war criminals. Tell your precious princess there will be no terms. There will be no surrender.”

A short pause, then, “Hi, I’m holding for General Hugs.” 

“This is Hux. You and your friends are doomed. We will wipe your filth from the galaxy!”

“Okay, I’ll hold.” 

Hux lost his smirk, baffled. “Hello?” 

“Hello? Yup, still here.”

Nova turns away, chuckling to herself. She knew exactly what the pilot Poe Dameron was doing and she found it amusing, giving the guy chops for continuing on with his charade without breaking character. But of course, in this type of plan, he would have to keep it calm, cool, and collected as he drew closer to the warships.

“Can you . . . Can he hear me?” Hux asks Lance Paze, a communications officer on the down below from the bridge pit who nods. “He can?” 

“Hugs? With an H. Skinny guy. Kinda pasty.” 

With that remark, Nova couldn’t keep in her laughter and chuckles softly which makes Hux spin on his heel, shooting her a look. He was getting irritated with the Resistance pilot, stepping up next to the younger girl. “I _can_ hear you. Can you _hear_ me?” 

“Look, I can’t hold forever. If you reach him, tell him Leia has an urgent message for him.”

Peavey speaks up. “I believe he’s tooling with you, sir,” 

“About his mother.” Poe finishes. 

Hux then grew irate, whipping around and storms over to stare down into the bridge pit. “Open fire!” He yelled. 

Poe cut the connection and grabbed his flight yoke. “BB-8, punch it!” 

Its newly installed booster engine blazing, Black One tore past the Finalizer toward the Fulminatrix and opened its S-foils into attack position. The Dreadnought’s turbolasers erupted immediately.

“He’s going for the Dreadnought.” Peavey announces as he, Hux, and Nova all witnessed it for themselves.

“Ha! He’s insane.” Hux comments, impassively delighted at the stupid plan because surely there was no way he could survive but Poe weaves the X-wing through the fire. He dove close to the Fulminatrix’s hull, making his fighter a difficult target to hit and began firing, blowing up the cannons which made Hux lose his smirk. 

He switched the comm to a friendly frequency and initiated the next stage of his semi-improvised plan. “Alright, taking out the cannons now. Tallie, start your approach!” 

Aboard the Fulminatrix, Canady watched gloomy as the lone X-wing pilot was stripping his ship of its dorsal defenses. Suddenly, a hologram of Hux flickered to life, right before him. “Captain Canady, why aren’t you blasting that puny ship?” 

“That puny ship is too small and at too close range, We need to scramble our fighters,” he replied ruthlessly, stepping away from the hologram as his right hand lady followed after. “Five bloody minutes ago.”

“He’ll never penetrate our armor.” She tried to persuade him. 

He shakes his head. “He’s not trying to penetrate our armor. He’s clearing out our surface cannons.”

Since Poe flew under the firing arc of the guns, they were unable to hit him and proved easy targets to knock out. Poe had destroyed all except one cannon when BB-8 whistled a warning. 

The X-wing’s proximity sensors showed TIE fighters racing out of the Dreadnought toward him. Painted mostly black, with two slim vertical wings connected to a circular cockpit, the TIEs were named after their twin ion engines, which gave them incredible speed. Though they lacked strong shields and had only two laser cannons compared with an X-wing’s four, the TIEs’ greatest assets were their pilots. They were afraid of nothing—not even death. To die in battle for the First Order was the greatest sacrifice a TIE pilot could make. 

Three split off from the group to trail Black One. “Here comes the parade,” Poe said. 

Laser fire from the TIEs rattled his X-wing;s underside, where its shields were weakest. One lucky shot must have severed a power line to his cannons, because all of a sudden Poe couldn’t return fire. “BB-8, my weapon systems are down. We need to take out that last cannon or our bombers are toast. Work your magic!”

Poe threw his X-wing into a series of barrel rolls, dodging enemy fire to give BB-8 a chance to weld the power line. 

In the socket to a cable-filled hold, BB-8’s head hovers from his body as he searches the craft compartment, seeing where the damage was. He finds the hard to reach junction box, seeing a spark and extends out his telescoping arm, an appendage plugging into the section until another blows into sparks. He squalled nervously, plugging up the other until another malfunction began; them cascading faster than he could repair them.

The two autocannons on the Fulminatrix’s underbelly belched a river of energy toward D’Qar. An explosion mushroomed where the Resistance base had been on the planet. Poe hoped no one was down there. 

Kaydel Ko Connix put to bed any such fears. “The last transport is in the air. The evacuation is complete.” 

Poe let out a breath. Now all he had to do was destroy one last cannon and they wouldn’t have to worry about the Dreadnought. 

General Organa spoke over the private channel. “You did it, Poe. Now get your squad back here so we can get out of this place.” 

Poe couldn’t believe what she was saying. “No, General, we can do this! We have the chance to take out a Dreadnought. These things are fleet killers. We can’t let it get away!” 

“Disengage now. That is an or—”

Poe flips the switch to disconnect the transmission, continuing on towards the last cannon and pretending not to hear her last command. She’d reprimand Poe for what he was about to do, but crippling the Fulminatrix would be worth any punishment. He swerved Black One around the TIEs that had been chasing him and squared the last cannon in his targeting computer. 

“BB-8, it’s now or never!” 

The panel kept on breaking into new malfunctions and BB-8 was desperate, his arm retracting into his body. He swings his head over and smashes it into the sparking junction box, him shrieking with electronic feedback. 

The X-wing’s power conduit was stabilized and Poe didn’t wait for a full charge. He fired and the Dreadnought’s last active turbolaser exploded. 

Straining against his seat straps, Poe wrenched his fighter around to confront his pursuers nose cone first. So surprised were the TIE pilots by the oncoming X-wing that neither could trigger their lasers in time. Poe blasted them into stardust. 

“Yes! All clear! Bring the bombs!” 

A glance out the canopy showed eight Resistance bombers, resembling atmospheric weathervanes with tubular fuselages, sped toward the Dreadnought. A score of X-wings and wedge shaped A-wings surrounded the bombers as a starfighter escort. 

“Bombers, keep that tight formation. Fighters, protect the bombers. It’s not every day we get a shot at a Dreadnought, so make this count.” 

“Copy that, Blue Leader. If you get us there, we’ll give it to them.” 

“Gunners, look alive!” Tallie commed.

A-wings and X-wings engaged as a squadron of TIEs came their way, a battle sparking within a matter of seconds. A brilliant display of laser bolts bloomed into a riot of fireballs. Dozens of TIEs met explosive ends, but the First Order still held the advantage with its greater numbers. 

“They’re everywhere! I can’t—” said a pilot before his voice fizzled out. 

Poe knew that voice. Good ole Tubbs, who was always keen to mentor new fighter jocks. Now he was gone—as was the Candonvantan ace Zizi Tlo. The TIEs had blown her A-wing to pieces. 

Starfighters and bombers race toward the Dreadnought. The bombers had been whittled down to half their original number, yet if even one managed to drop its payload of magno-charges on the Dreadnought, the damage inflicted could be devastating. 

With its turbolasers disabled, the Fulminatrix’s defense rested with the TIE fighters, which increased by the minute as more launched from the Dreadnought and Destroyers. The leaders of the First Order viewed the TIES as expendable and were willing to sustain heavy losses to overwhelm the Resistance ships. 

The First Order’s strategy seemed to be working. Screams crackled over Poe’s comm as another bomber met its end. C’ai Threnalli, the tendril-mouthed Abednedo flying Red Three, yelled out in his native language, which the X-wing’s computer translated as “We can’t hold them!” 

Poe took Black One into the fray. “Yes, we can! Stay tight with the bombers!”

One bomber in particular, painted cobalt blue, was giving the TIEs more than they could take. Salvo after salvo gushed from its undercannon, obliterating any TIE that came too close. Poe took heart in that gunner’s dogged determination. It would spur everyone to keep up the fight more than any speech of his ever could. 

Paige spun in the turret seat of the bomber Cobalt Hammer, blasting at enemy fighters. Sweat trickled under the medallion on her neck. It was getting harder and harder to keep the TIEs away. Their number seemed endless.

“Almost there! Bombardiers, begin the dropping sequence.”Tallie said over the bomber’s speakers.

Releasing the magno-charges was Nix’s responsibility as the bombardier of Cobalt Hammer. He was stationed at the top of the bomb bay, while Paige’s turret was located as the bottom of the fuselage and faced backward to ward off any pursuers. 

She continued firing, sending more TIEs to their doom. She didn’t revel in any of it, knowing that each and every TIE was operated by someone like her. 

The lead bomber Crimson Smiter zoomed past and opened its bomb bay door. “Sequence initiated,” broadcast its bombardier. “Payload ready to del—”

His transmission never finished. A TIE careened into Crimson Smiter’s bomb bay and sparked a chain reaction. 

All the bomber’s magno-charged went off, spawning a destructive wave that swept through space. 

Paige was rocked in her seat and her viewport went white.After the brightness dimmed, she saw the explosive wave that consumed not only the crimson bomber and the nearby TIEs, but all the other bombers. 

Cobalt Hammer was the only bomber remaining. 

Down below lay the sleek chrome of the Dreadnought’s hull. But Nix would have to start dropping his payload soon. Sensors indicated that the Dreadnought’s autocannons were rotating away from D’Qar to the Resistance cruiser Raddus, on which Paige’s sister, Rose, currently served as a technician. She and thousands of others would die if the autocannons struck the cruiser. 

A black X-wing sped under them. “Paige, come in! Why aren’t your bay doors open?” Poe Dameron’s voice sounds. “You’re the only bomber left. It’s all down to you!”

She unbelted herself and crawled out of the turret into the bomb chute. Not one of the thousand magno-charged had been dropped. They all rested in their berths along the length of the shaft, and the bay doors below remained closed. 

She pushed the button on the side wall, opening the doors and noticed how smoke billowed down the chute. Paige crouched. Through the haze, she made out a body in a bombardier flight suit lying on the highest catwalk. “Nix? Nix!”

The pilot didn’t move. But an object in his hand blinked red, the bomb trigger remote. 

“Drop the payload,” Poe shouted over the bomber’s speakers. “Now!”

Paige scuttled up a ladder to the catwalk. Poor Nix lay there, lifeless. The blast from the crimson bomber must have struck the upper part of Cobalt Hammer. She silently thanked Nix for managing to put the remote trigger within her reach. 

The ship shook violently and Paige lost her footing. She fell off the ladder, down the chute, and smashed into a midlevel catwalk ten meters below. 

Pain shot through her limbs. She could hardly move. The smoke thickened. She wheezed. TIEs must have hit the bomber again. Another barrage would probably destroy it for good. She couldn’t let that happen. People were depending on her. Her friends. Her family. Her little sister. 

Rose would die if Paige didn’t drop the bombs. 

Paige gazes up and teetering on the edge of the catwalk, the remote shone through the smoke like a bright star on a cloudy night. The TIE fighter attack must have jolted it out of Nix’s grip. 

She kicked at the ladder, the upper catwalk shuddered but the remote remained on the edge. She mustered her muscles for another kick, her boots clanging against the ladder. The remote bounced, but didn’t fall. 

Smoke constricted her lunges, she couldn’t even cough. “Drop them now!” Boomed Commander Dameron. 

Paige gave one last kick as she held her medallion and closed her eyes for a moment to focus. It had much less force than her other two attempts but it was just enough to knock the remote off the catwalk. 

It ricocheted off one bomb, then another, falling down the chute. Paige stretched out with every bit of strength left in her. She caught the remote, the next action came naturally, ingrained from operating the turret. Her thumb pressed the remote’s trigger. 

A warning chimed, then from bottom to top, the racks retracted and the magno-charges tumbled from their berths. Down the chute they fell, a thousand black orbs containing enough destructive power to level a village. They pelted the Dreadnought, erupting on contact, blasting chunks from its hull. Within moments, flames engulfed the Fulminatrix and everything around it—including Cobalt Hammer. 

As fire washed over the bomber, Paige touched the medallion that hung around her neck once again and thought of Rose. 

General Leia Organa did not join the cheering on the bridge of the Raddus when the Dreadnought broke apart. She couldn’t celebrate the unnecessary sacrifices Poe Dameron had forced them to make. They had forfeited all eight bombers, along with most of the starfighter corps. The small Resistance fleet might escape this time, but it would not be able to mount an ample defense when the First Order attacked again. And attack again it would, she knew. The First Order would not stop until the flame of the Resistance was snuffed out. 

Her job was to ensure that never happened. “Lightspeed,” she said. 

The bridge crew promptly resumed their duties and all the remaining ships in the fleet followed her command. 

Watching the Resistance go into hyperdrive and regarding the burning remains of Canady’s shattered Dreadnought, Nova turns to see how pale and ghastly Hux appeared to be and he had every right. She could sense the tension in the air of what would soon follow. 

“General, Supreme Leader Snoke is making contact from his ship.” A communications officer informs him. 

Hux gulps and exchanges a worried glance to Nova. Forcibly, he tries to appear superior and not phased by what had just taken place before their very eyes. “Excellent. I’ll take it in my chambers.” 

Once he turns and tries to exit the room, with Nova following after, a huge hologram of Snoke’s head appears on the bridge, face looming in the blue hue which stops them dead in their tracks. “General Hux.” 

He stumbles, freezing in place and shakily inhales. “Ah, good. Supreme Leader—” An unseen force slams Hux directly into the polished black floor of the bridge, sliding him forwards under the hologram of Snoke and spinning him around which made Nova’s eyes grow wide in size. No matter her indifference with Hux, he certainly didn’t deserve that. 

Snoke’s head rotates as Hux tries to get his knees under him to regain some ounce of dignity, mouth bleeding. “My disappointment in your performance cannot be overstated.”

“They can’t get away, Supreme Leader. We have them tied on the end of a string.”

The leader of the First Order’s face rounds to Nova, his startling blue eyes blazing but not because of her, because of Hux. “Ms. Hux, is this true?” 

Drifting focus, her eyes go to Hux to see him giving a staggering nod to confirm that it was and she relays the message. “Yes, Supreme Leader.” 

He thinks for a moment. “Come the Supremacy, both of you. Not a moment to waste. This shall be better to speak in person.”

The hologram then cut out. 

_Rey!_ Finn woke with a start and banged his head against something hard. Wincing, he found himself lying inside a bubble bed, wearing a squishy suit from his neck to his toes. A bacta suit of clear flexpoly, ribbed and shot through with tubing. He retracted the dome and promptly fell off the bed onto the cold floor which knocked tubes loose and spew liquid on the floor.

He was in a sick bay, far from the snow forests of Starkiller Base where he remembered he had been fighting Kylo Ren, the First Order’s black garbed enforcer, in defense of Rey. Relying on the advanced weapon training he’d received as a Stormtrooper and connecting himself with the Force, he managed to slash Kylo Ren in the arm. Incensed, Ren had lashed out with his own fiery blade, cutting deep into Finn’s flesh before all went dark. 

Finn felt an ache where Ren’s saber had struck, but otherwise he seemed in good health. And if he had survived the encounter, it could mean that she had, too.

“Rey!” He called out but there was no sign of her. He was alone. 

The sick bad suddenly shook. Medical equipment fell off the shelves. Glow panels fluttered. Finn teetered up on uneasy legs. Sticky, icky, bacta dripped from the tubes of his translucent body suit. The medicine had special properties that accelerated the healing process, but it was costly, even the synthetic blend the Resistance had acquired. His wound must have been quite severe for the Resistance to use its precious bacta on him. 

He staggered out into a corridor. The walls gleamed white and were lined with access panels to circuitry and conduits. Engines hummed in the background. Finn figured he must be on a star cruiser. 

“Rey?” He called again. 

He peeked out a viewport and the dizzying streaks of hyperspace nearly made him sick. He turned away as a squad of soldiers in Resistance uniforms rushed past, paying him no attention, even in his current state of undress. 

Finn didn’t know what was going on, but he had to find Rey before things turned worse. He also had to find some clothes. 

After landing inside the Raddus’s hangar, Poe had BB-8 run a diagnostics program. Black One had sustained some hull damage in the combat, but nothing that couldn’t be patched. Poe would recommend that the mechanics replace the power junction box, in case it failed again. As for the experimental booster engine, it had saved his skin, so he’d keep it. 

Interrupting his tests, BB-8 twirled his dome and blabbed in excitement, beeping too fast for Poe to understand. “Finn naked? Leaking bag? What? Did you fry a chip?” Poe asked. 

BB-8 chirps again and he turns his head, seeing Finn bumbling around near the hangar door, looking very lost and wearing a bacta suit. 

Poe climbed out of his fighter and hurried over to his friend. Finn! Buddy! It’s good to see—” He stopped before he hugged the former Stormtrooper. Gelatinous fluid was leaking from Finn’s suit and had dribbled a trail on the ground. “Let’s get you dressed. You must have a thousand questions.”

Not a thousands, but he did have a few though there was only one that was important to him. “Where’s Rey?” 

The island was haunted and Rey was sure of it. She stood outside Luke’s hut and watched the fog roll across the village. The haze was thick and held an eerie pre-dawn glow. She had the vague impression that something lurked within those mists. Specters whispering secrets from a long lost time. 

Luke emerged from his hut. He strode past Rey as if she weren’t there. Strapped to his back was a rucksack, a staff, netting, and an assortment of other items. She didn’t ask where he was going. She just followed. 

She trailed him up the mountain, then down the other side to the shore where a blubbery, bovine creature lounged on the rocks. Luke climbed up to it and untied an empty bottle from his back. He then took the two teats that hung beneath the creature’s stomach and milked them. A green fluid oozed into the bottle. 

The creature turned its leathery neck to Rey. Above a tubular snout, two tiny black eyes peered at her. The milking seemed to comfort it. 

After filling the bottle, Luke put it to his lip and drank. Green liquid dribbled from the bottle into his beard. He didn’t wipe the slime away, nor did he offer a sip of the milk to Rey. She wouldn’t have accepted it in any way. 

Once refreshed, he capped the bottle and returned to his hut, closing the door behind him. Rey sat on a bench outside. She reached into her satchel, shifting aside the beacon Leia had given her to take out a ration packet. It was a leftover quarter portion she’d traded with the disgusting Unkar Plutt for scrap metal on Jakku. The food tasted bland, but at least it was better than green milk. After she was finished, she put on her cloak and lied down for her to fall asleep but not before her final thought took over; running like clockwork from Jakku. 

What was Nova doing right at this second? 

As the turbolift doors shut, Nova tugged at the ends of her gauze wrappings and saw that Hux was going the same with his uniform, but he was doing his out of looking official. She did it to help calm her nerves and try not to think how long it had been since she last stood in this red throne room aboard the Mega Destroyer Supremacy. 

A wide bridge led into a spacious chamber arched by steel supports. Dark crimson curtains shrouded the walls and windows. Mysterious purple robed attendants, their eyes glowing under their hoods, lurked around a sophisticated oculus device that offered views of space. But what Nova took most notice of were the silent warriors who stood four abreast on each side of the room. Armed and armored in gleaming red, they seemed outfitted for ceremony, yet in actuality they were ready for combat at a moment’s notice. These eight were the First Order’s most elite fighters, the Praetorian Guards, and the various weapons they carried. Pikes and polearms, vibeo-voluges and electro-whips: weapons that Nova had fought and battled against before in her training. She knew they could slice through the hardest metal of electrocute a being with a single stab. 

Banners bearing the regime’s emblem hung overhead, reflected in the black floor. In the throne room’s shadows, Nova glimpsed droids attending to their duties and back at the purple robed beings that had a weird energy coming off of them. Something that felt so strange yet so comforting— _almost_ welcoming. 

As soon as Hux dropped to one knee, Snoke’s blue eyes were upon Nova who still kept her stare on the hooded figures. He clears his throat and she snaps to the present, realizing that she was still standing and takes a knee next to Hux and bows her head. 

“General Hux, I handed you a war hammer and pointed to a nug-gnat,” he said. 

“As I assured you, Supreme Leader, the setback is merely temporary,” Hux replied. 

Snoke studied him appraisingly. The Supreme Leader wasn’t the towering figure seen in his holographic broadcasts, but he still dwarfed a human. He radiated power; a malign energy seemed to emanate from him, one that Nova could feel sending questing tendrils into her and Hux’s brain. 

“After your failure today, General, your assurances do not inspire confidence,” Snoke eyes him.

Hux’s shoulders tensed at the icy anger in his voice and Nova felt him forcing himself to remain impassive. If Snoke wanted to kill him, he would have done it aboard the Finalizer, where Hux’s demise would have served as an object lesson to others. He wouldn’t have wasted time by summoning him to do away with him in secret, especially if Nova was a witness. 

“You say you can track the Resistance fleet even after its escape to hyperspace—something no military force in galactic history has been able to do,” Snoke remarks, and Hux relaxed. Now the Supreme Leader was in his favor. 

“No military force in galactic history had access to the technology we have created, Supreme Leader.” 

“The Resistance fleet will be one the other side of the galaxy by now. In any of a billion star systems. The prospect of checking them all makes me weary, General.” 

“We need not check them all, Supreme Leader. Our tracking system’s computer network contains millennia worth of data: every after-action report from Imperial history, as well as many from the Republic’s Judicial Forces and Planetary Security Forces. It contains astrogation reports, briefings from scouts and commercial guilds, Separatist intel—”

“A full inventory would be tedious,” rumbled Snoke. 

Hux dipped his chin. “Of course, Supreme Leader. Our sensors pinpoint the target’s last known trajectory, and tracking control analyzes it against our data sets. Trillions of potential destinations are sifted and reduced to hundreds, then dozens, and finally one.” 

“And so why are we not headed to that lone destination?” Snoke asked. 

“We are cross checking the results of our initial analysis, Supreme Leader,” Hux states. “The final calculations should be complete within minutes.” 

Snoke leaned back in his throne, considering that. His guards stood unmoving in their imprisoning red armor. Behind him, the alien navigators that helped the First Order blaze hyperspace lanes through the Unknown Regions carried on their inscrutable work. 

“So your solution to this ancient problem is no conceptual breakthrough,” Snoke said. “Your invention is a product not of genius, but brute force.” 

“Brute force is underrated, Supreme Leader.” Hux said with a smile. “The New Republic’s home fleet is destroyed, and its surviving senators have dissolved the remaining task forces to protect their homeworlds. Their division makes them defenseless. No power in the galaxy can stand against us, Supreme Leader.”

Snoke chuckles. “Tied on a string indeed, General Hux. Well done.”

Nova lifted her head a bit, side glancing over her shoulder as Hux stood and waited a few seconds. The turbolift opened behind them and Kylo stepped out into the throne room, clad in all black, with his mask, cape, and armor; he presented the image of strength. But it was his heart that would probe because even before the grills of the turbolift parted, he _felt_ her and it beat in his chest, hard as stone. 

He arrived with no accomplishment, that he knew. Kylo needed to be rescued from Starkiller Base as it came apart and spent much of the time since then being put back together by medical droids like LC6D. He had only seen Nova that one day when she returned his helmet and lightsaber back into his possession, but nothing since. He counted the days at Starkiller Base and it’d been eight: the night it happened, the next two days of healing, seeing Nova, then four days of healing again. 

Kylo’s eyes saw her kneeling in her new red and black outfit that was very similar to her old one; the differences were the colors, wearing leather knee-high boots, and she had her own lightsaber attached to her belt rather than a haversack and he couldn’t help but smile slightly at the design which seemed to resonate with his own. His sight then trails up, seeing Snoke in his gold flecked robes that draped his gaunt frame while gold threaded slipped swaddles his feet. When sitting, he leaned forward, his spine bent like a decrepit old hunchback. But age and appearance mattered little to Kylo when it came to the Supreme Leader. All that mattered was the power Snoke could teach him. 

General Hux walked toward the lift, smirking at him as he passed. It took every bit of Kylo’s self control to not choke the wretch. Hux may have rescued him from death on Starkiller Base but that was only because Nova wouldn’t leave him, and Snoke commanded Hux to protect Nova and bring her to him. If anything, Hux was the reason the First Order still lacked complete control of the galaxy. His poor leadership had cost them their superweapon and he deserved to be punished for it. 

“Hux’s plan seems to be working,” Snoke said, his voice wet and oily. He always seemed to know what Kylo was thinking. “The Resistance will soon be in our grasp.”

At the turbolifts, Hux widened his snide grin. “Thank you, Supreme Leader. Ms. Hux has even completed her training under _my_ care.”

“Yes. I’ve been notified by the Knights, such a high reverence for our young Nova Hux, they have. Even Ushar has asked for her to be an official member, and it’s all to you, General.” 

Kylo fumed under his mask. As long as Hux had Snoke’s confidence, Kylo couldn’t touch him. But the instant Hux lost it, he’d be there to strike him down—an act he would enjoy. 

Hux entered the turbolift and the doors closed. Kylo stepped forward and dropped to a knee before the throne, next to Nova. 

“You wonder why I keep a rabid cur in such a place of power?” the Supreme Leader asked, referring to Hux. “Mark this—a cur’s weakness, properly manipulated, can be a sharp tool.”

Kylo said nothing but he could sense Nova gazing at him for a short moment before staring back down at her reflection in the gleaming black floor. Whenever Snoke lectured, it was better simply to listen.

“How’s your wound?” 

This question demanded an answer, and Kylo didn’t flinch. “It’s nothing,” he said, voice distorted. The electronic vocoder in his mask needed to be fixed. 

“Hmm. The mighty Kylo Ren.” Snoke snickers and stands, stepping down from his throne and towards him. “When I found you, I saw what all masters live to see. Raw, untamed power. And beyond that, something truly special—the potential of your bloodline. A new Vader.” 

The praise invigorated Kylo. This was what he wanted from his master. This was the respect he deserved. 

“Now, I fear, I was mistaken.” 

Kylo’s heart missed a beat. How could his master say that? Did he not know the deed he had done on Starkiller Base?

“I’ve given everything I have to you. To the dark side.” He blinked moisture from his eyes and Nova felt his sadness, his betrayal. “Everything.” 

Snoke’s voice hardened. “Take that ridiculous thing off.” 

The command shocked Kylo. He wore the mask to protect the same soul crushing fear that his grandfather, Darth Vader, had inspired during the glorious days of the Empire. Yet after all he had done to secure his master’s favor, his efforts were mocked. And he hated Snoke for it. 

Still, he obeyed. 

The helmet hissed and Kylo pulled it off. His skin was tender and raw underneath. Thick black sutures stitched the gash on his cheek that Nova’s sister Rey had given him in their forest duel. He hadn’t received bacta treatment in time to completely restore his skin. But the resulting scar would be a constant and painful reminder of what she had done to him. It would fuel his hate. It would motivate his vengeance. 

Kylo’s unhidden gaze goes directly to Nova like how it had on that bridge in the oscillator and she reaches for him through the Force, wrapping him up in their bond so he could feel somewhat secure and protected from the hard scrutiny he was being placed under. 

Snoke bent down but didn’t acknowledge his wound. Nova watched as he touched Kylo under his eye. “Yes, there it is.” His spidery finger came up wet with a tear. Disgusted, he wiped it across Kylo’s face. “You have too much of your father’s heart in you, young Solo.” 

Kylo was about to explode, shaking with venom. “I _killed_ Han Solo. When the moment came, I put my blade through him. I didn’t hesitate.” 

“And look at you. The deed split your spirit to the bone.”

Kylo fell quiet, dropping his gaze but it was Nova who stood and began speaking up on his behalf. “He did as you asked!” Her voice booms off the walls. “He’s always done what you asked—and yet, you still wanted to abandon him on a collapsing planet! A valuable asset to the First Order, and to you! And what? You just wanted to expend him?” 

Snoke was enjoying the fire that was burning bright behind her eyes but he made no awareness of it. “He was unbalanced, bested by a girl who never even held a lightsaber! He failed!” 

Kylo would take no more of his master’s ridicule. He shoots up, shrugging off his cape in a quick motion and his free hand dropped to the hilt of his lightsaber. It never got close. 

Bolts of electricity burst from Snoke’s hands, bouncing off the glossy floor and coursed into Kylo’s body. He fell back, scorched, and smoking. 

Snoke relented and his Praetorians sprung into fighting stances, various weapons pointed at Kylo as Nova shouts for him, rushing over and kneeling down right at his side to check and make sure he was alright. “Skywalker lives. The seed of the Jedi Order lives. As long as it does, hope lives in the galaxy.” 

Twitching from the electrocution, Kylo pushed himself back up with Nova’s help, holding his helmet tightly in his hand. His master continued to belittle him as he returned to his throne. “I thought you would be the one to snuff it out. Alas, you’re no Vader. You’re just a child in a mask.” 

Nova peers up to be met with Kylo’s unreadable expression, knowing that he refused to listen to any more. He spins on his boot and strode back across the bridge towards the turbolift, her taking lurching steps to keep up with him but not before Snoke calls out to her. 

“Your sister, Ms. Hux, make no mistake. She is the enemy.” She could feel his stare on her back, but she did not turn around. 

When the lift doors shut, Kylo’s eyes were filled with tears that he was holding back, gripping his helmet tightly and peers down at it for a second. Nova just watched, her lips turning into a frown and she stepped up in front of him, placing her hands around his helmet and gradually slipped it out of his grasp. She could feel his hate towards Snoke simmering and how he, being the fool he was, would regret ridiculing him. Nova believed it. Snoke would pay somehow, some way. 

“Ben,” that delicate word drifts from her lips and his left eye twitches slightly. Cradling his helmet under her arm and freeing her left hand, she traces the top of his molded together skin before drifting down to the sutures and outlining them. 

Absentmindedly he closed his eyes and took in a shaky breath, leaning into her touch and stayed there for a moment. His stress and worries felt like they were melting away, like her hand was a sponge and was soaking up everything and removing it from his mind. Nova just looks him over in admiration, removing her hand and stares back down at his mask. 

“I don’t think it’s ridiculous.” She comments, lifting it up and over her head, about to put it on but Kylo stops her by grabbing her wrists gently. 

“No, it is.” He responds, taking it from her and stares down at it again. _A child in a mask_ , Snoke had called him and his anger grew once again. 

Before he knew it, he bashed his helmet into the wall with a thunderous crack and paused for a moment. He retracted it from the wall, seeing how it was dented and fractured and consumed once again, he continued. He imagined it was his master’s head, turning to pulp. 

Nova just stood back, watching him let out his anger, grief, and everything else in between. Her heart ached for him. He never learned how to deal with his issues, problems, and emotions, so whenever they arrived, he’d lash out because that was the only way he was taught how by Snoke. He was hardened by a cruel world and she knew he was capable of being soft and loved, if only he’d allow himself to be. 

The lift stopped and the doors opened. A pair of First Order lieutenants chatted outside. Seeing Kylo, they froze. In their eyes, he saw the very fear he had wanted to project. He didn’t need a mask. These officers were afraid of him and his fury. 

“Prepare my ship!” He barked and stomped past them, while Nova just kept her eyes on the pile of pieces of his helmet at her feet. 

A long time ago, she realized that Kylo Ren lost hope for himself and Nova hoped one day it’d return to him. He was conflicted, it was the first thing she could feel about him even before the doors to the lift revealed him standing there. He was haunted by what he had done to his father, Han Solo, and he couldn’t stop seeing it whenever he closed his eyes. He has trouble sleeping at night because of it and it brought him nightmares of his father shouting his name, falling into the abyss. She could actually _see_ it in her head, as if they were her own dreams and how it tore him up inside. 

There was something that Nova vaguely remembered her mother saying to her once upon a time, and it was that, a wound is just a location where light can find its place within you. And with a terrible, festering wound that he had, Nova maintained belief that the light would build a home inside of Kylo Ren— _inside_ of Ben Solo. 


	12. True Power

Leia drank tea in her cabin on the Raddus, gazing at the swirls of hyperspace through her viewport. For the moment, the tunnel of light represented safety. Once the Resistance fleet returned to realspace, however, it would be vulnerable to attack. The rendezvous point in the remote Oetchi system would no doubt give them all a chance to regroup, but the Resistance’s long term survival depended on finding a secure place to rebuild and rally her Jedi brother to their cause. Without him, she knew they would never defeat the First Order. 

She also missed Luke. 

Leia had lost so much over the years—her homeworld, her parents, her Republic, her son, and most recently, Han, her husband. It seemed that everything she loved had been torn away from her to cause the most pain. She had endured it all, with little time to grieve. But how much could one person suffer? 

The safety of hyperspace broke apart into lines then the viewport showed a dark void, speckled with stars as Poe came out from his quarters, his old flight jacket over an arm. BB-8 rolled besides him, Finn a step behind, putting on the shirt and trousers that Poe had lent him. Poe had gotten Finn up to speed on everything that had happened, but Finn had a million more questions. “So you blew up Starkiller Base, Rey beat Kylo and Nova showed up to save him, the Resistance got the map—we won, right? Why does this not feel like winning?” 

Poe led the way down the corridor toward the bridge. “We came out of hiding to attack Starkiller eight days ago. The First Order found our base.” 

“And Rey went to try and make Luke come back, to join the fight.”

Poe nods. “She’ll be alright.”

“We need her, you know. She’s a fighter, and the Resistance— _ we _ —will be stronger with her at our side.”

“Got a point there, Finny.” Poe said with a smile, stopping and giving Finn his flight jacket. 

Finn had saved it from the TIE fighter crash on Jakku, and when they met again on D’Qar, Poe had told him to keep it. But when Finn was admitted to the medcenter, the jacket came back into Poe’s possession. Hoping his friend would recover, Poe had tried to mend it as best he could, stitching combat patches over the tears and burn marks from Kylo Ren’s lightsaber. 

“I’m not much of a sewer. Plus, I was, you know, saving the fleet.” 

Finn didn’t seem as eager to accept the jacket as he had on D’Qar. Poe understood his wariness. Finn was still recuperating from nearly being killed. It might take him a while, but he’d eventually come around. He was a soldier, and soldiers never gave up the fight. 

They rounded the corner and walked onto the bridge, where General Organa was inspecting a holographic star chart with Admiral Ackbar, Commander D’Acy, and other Resistance officers.

When Poe went up to her, she welcomed him with a slap to the face. “You’re demoted.” 

Poe grimaced. He’d expected a reprimand, but never losing his rank. “What? Wait!” His cheek stung, buzzing angrily as blood rushed over the spot where her powerful palm connected with his skin. “We took down a Dreadnought.”

“At what cost?” She stares at him. 

Poe felt the need to defend himself. “You start an attack, you follow it through.” 

“Poe, get your head out of your cockpit. There are things you cannot solve by jumping in an X-wing and blowing something up! I need you to learn that.”

She began to walk away and Poe clenched his jaw. “There were heroes on that mission.”

“ _ Dead _ heroes. No leaders.” 

She was a small woman, yet her words landed with tremendous force. He felt ashamed he had failed her, and any further explanation would be nothing more than an excuse. 

During their argument, Finn had been studying the holographic star char above the command table. Their present location appeared empty of stars and celestial bodies. “We’re really nowhere. Deep space.” He commented. “How’s Rey going to find us?” 

General Organa pulled back her sleeve and revealed a black corded bracelet adorned with a spherical metal device. It shone faintly. 

Finn felt himself grin.”A cloaked binary beacon.” 

Leia returns his amusement. “To light her way home.” A pause. “Yours too.” 

Baffled, he stares at her as she sets her sleeve back into place and takes in a deep inhale. “General Org—”

“Leia.” She corrects him. 

“Leia . . . I . .”

“I get it, Finn.” She nods with understanding. “I encourage you to go, I have a good feeling about you. I’ll have our gifted technician give you the coordinates of where she went. Oh, and if you’re sure about this, move fast and out of mind.” 

“Yes, Gen . . .  _ Leia _ .” He nods, feeling excited but then frowns, returning to the map. “What’s your guys’ plan?” 

“We need to find a new base.” 

“One with enough power to get a distress signal to our allies scattered in the Outer Rim,” suggested D’Acy. A career military officer, the tough-as-nails commander had seen her fair share of battles over the years. 

Sirens began blaring and emergency lights suddenly flashed. “Proximity alert!” Ackbar shouted. 

“They found us.” Freya, a mechanic and technician of the Resistance, spoke up and turned towards Leia. 

“That’s impossible,” Poe scurries up next to Ackbar and watches.

In the large viewport around the bridge, thirty First Order Star Destroyers emerged from hyperspace. One dwarfed them all, a thunderhead of a vessel. Veins of illumination ran along the kilometers of its surface to a central command area the size of a major metropolis. And it was warmed with giant turbolaser cannons from bow to stern—on both sides. 

“That’s Snoke’s ship. The Supremacy. You’ve got to be kidding me.” Poe mumbled. It made no sense that the First Order had found them so quickly. “Can we jump to lightspeed?” 

Lieutenant Connix checked her readouts. “We have enough fuel resources for just one jump.” 

“Well, then, do it. We gotta get out of here.” Poe saw the squadrons of TIE fighters launch from the Destroyers. If the Resistance fleet didn’t jump soon, it would be swarmed. 

“Wait.” General Organa raises her hand for them to pause, realization dawning on her. “They tracked us through lightspeed.”

Freya eyes her as she steps away from her station. “That’s impossible. The First Order has no such thing to do. I  _ would _ know.” And mostly certainly she would’ve. She used to be a Stormtrooper just like Finn, her name used to be FY-4201 and just like the lad when it came to firing at innocents, she left and was found by the one and only Paige Tico who brought her to General Organa in the first place. 

“It is impossible, yes.” She responds and stares out at the viewport. “And they’ve done it.” 

Poe didn’t argue. Her explanation seemed to be the only possibility. First Order engineers had built the Starkiller superweapon, so it was conceivable they could invent a tracking device that transmitted through hyperspace. 

Freya shook her head, offering her own assessment. “So we jump to lightspeed, they’re just going to find us again and we’re going to be out of fuel. We stay here, we get blown up. They’ve got us. We’re trapped.” 

“Not yet, they don’t.” Poe turned to General Organa. “Permission to jump in an X-wing and blow something up.” 

She didn’t hesitate. “Permission granted. Admiral, swing us around!”

Cannon fire from the Mega Destroyer rattled everyone on the bridge. Ackbar leaned a webbed hand on a console to maintain his balance. “Full astern! Rotate shields!” 

Poe ran off the bridge, calling the other Resistance pilots while Finn and even Freya, were a few steps behind him. More shots rocked the cruiser as they thrummed against the shields. The pattern of the blasts told Poe that some of the TIEs were already on them. BB-8 wheeled ahead of them, squealing that they needed to go faster. 

“Don’t wait for me!” Poe told BB-8. “Jump in and fire her up!” 

Following orders, BB-8 sped up ahead and headed straight for the hangar where Tallie and the others were in their starfighter cockpits, preparing for the launch. 

The launch that never happened. 

Once Poe reached the door to the hangar, torpedoes shot into the hangar and detonated. In the blink of an eye, fuel lines burst and the place erupted. Flames consume every craft, from the A-wings to Poe’s beloved Black One. The force of the blast saved Poe and BB-8 from suffering the same terrible fate of their comrades. Both were sent reeling backward into the corridor. BB-8’s dome flew off the ball of his body, but he was able to activate his magnetic casters to reconnect it. The blast doors shut, sealing off the hangar to prevent the fire from spreading. 

Finn sensed the devastation before he arrived on the scene with Freya, her leaning down to help up the pilot. “Poe, are you alright?” 

Poe looks up at his friend, staggering to his feet. “We need to get out of range of those Star Destroyers.” 

The Resistance would not survive otherwise.

Nova kept her eyes on Kylo’s prototype TIE Silencer, seeing how it veered away from the Raddus after its torpedoes tore open the cruiser’s hangar and decimated the starfighters within. He wasn’t done. He wanted to take out more than a hangar full of starfighters. He wanted to eliminate the Resistance’s leaders to prove a point to Snoke. 

He looped his TIE Silencer around for another attack run, and the two black and red TIE behind him did the same. Fast though they were, they struggled to keep up, for Kylo had followed the example of his grandfather Darth Vader and flew his custom TIE. It bore a sleek, sinister design, with an oblong cockpit, a squashed rectangular viewport, and two solar wings that were notched and slanted like those on an interceptor. It tore through space with unrivaled speed and packed weaponry as catastrophic as the Special Forces TIEs flying with it. 

Closing in on the cruiser’s bridge, Kylo waited for a torpedo lock. Since he had annihilated the crusier’s starfighters in the hangar, he needn’t worry about any A-wings or X-wings harassing him, and the turbolasers on the First Order’s Destroyers were keeping the cruiser busy. 

The targeting computer beeped. His fingers twitched, ready to fire—until a sensation in the Force made him hesitate. Nova leaned in close to the glass, reaching and tugging on their link mentally to feel what he was experiencing. On the Raddus bridge stood someone once close to him. A person who shared his stubbornness, tenacity, and defiance. 

His mother. 

He felt that Leia sensed him too. She held no anger against him, despite what he had done, despite him having killed his father and her husband. She still cared for him, as if he hadn’t changed, as if he were still Ben Solo, her son. 

_ How dare she,  _ Nova could feel Kylo’s anger fusing into an emotional missile and his gloved thumb applied presser to the trigger. He wanted to show his mother that he wasn’t Ben Solo, that he was Kylo Ren. And that he can and will sever his bond with her once and for all. 

Thinking on her feet, Nova drew in a deep breath and fluttered her eyes closed. She began launching his own childhood memories at him through the Force, reminding him of the good times that he had. She hadn’t seen all of them from whenever she entered his mind during training, but she had just seen enough to make Kylo falter and have his eyes grow misty. 

A new awareness pinched Nova and she knew it was Leia; the general of the Resistance was experiencing this young girl tame her son and providing him with forgotten love that she and her late husband had given him before he grew. Before the darkness consumed him. That shift, the light that she felt in her son, it was her. Something that Han figured out before Leia did. 

There was hope for him, for Ben Solo. Leia always believed it but allowed herself some doubt, that was until this moment. Until she became aware of Kylo easing off the trigger, twinged with guilt as he sits back in his seat and blinks away the salt water tears. 

Nova reopened her eyes, knowing that she just spared Leia’s life and Kylo from a moment that he’ll forever regret. He was acting out of anger, out of deep-seated fear because of what Snoke had said to him earlier. And doing something in that state of mind calls for danger and problems later on. 

Her moment of relief was drawn short as she saw the other TIE pilots firing. A pair of mag pulse warheads struck the cruiser’s bridge, Nova and even Kylo feeling a chorus of voices crying out in the Force before they went quiet. 

Kylo jerked his flight yoke, rolling his Silencer to avoid the debris. His breathing was strained. The bond between him and his mother have been severed and he no longer felt his mother. His eyes feverishly scan space, trying to see if he could find her. There she was drifting, arms spread, between burning fragments of the bridge. He called on the Force and began guiding her back to the Raddus so she could live. Time was of the essence. 

General Hux addressed him on the comm. “Ren, the Resistance have pulled out of range of our Destroyers. We can’t cover you at this distance. Return to the fleet.” 

Kylo’s anger flared again. If he left now, he wouldn’t be able to return his mother to safety properly and she’d still be carried throughout space. He demanded more power from the Force, straining his fingers to course her through the void and to the Resistance ship as other TIE squadrons had downed the cargo halter Vigil. 

“Snoke’s command,” Hux said on the comm. 

The Raddus’ turbolasers nailed one of the TIEs flying besides Kylo, blowing it to pieces. The cruiser’s guns erased a second TIE from Kylo’s scopes. If he continued without the Destroyers’ protection, he and his squadron could all die. Which saving his mother would be well worth it because that’s what Nova had wanted him to do, to realize it was the right thing to do until it dawned on him that he’d be dead and Nova would be all alone with Supreme Leader Snoke. The man who terrified her and yet, was the very same man she stood up to on Kylo’s behalf. A man who was worthy of abusive means and ways in order to get what he wanted from people, especially his apprentice. He couldn’t put her through that. 

With one last Force push on his mother, Kylo turned his Silencer away from the cruiser and commanded the TIEs to do the same. 

Nova sees them approaching, her heart somber at what transpired and steps away from the glass, turning to stare over at Hux who was speaking to Peavey. “What is the point of all this if we can’t blow up three tiny cruisers?” 

“Well, they’re faster and lighter, sir. They can’t lose us, but they can keep at range where our cannons are ineffective against their shields.” Peavey remarks, and stares at the holographic projection of the Resistance fleet; the Raddus being shot at but the shield protected it from actual damage though it shook the vessel. 

“Well, keep up the barrage. Let’s at least remind them that we’re still here.” Hux wanders up to the bridge’s viewport and stares out for a moment or two. 

“Very good, sir.” Peavey nods in affirmation. 

The ginger then turns on his heel, staring back at the hologram. “They won’t last long burning fuel like this. It’s just a matter of time.” 

Leia’s training in the Force allowed her to slow her breathing and retain some of her heat, but she would not last out here forever. She was being suffocated, deprived of oxygen. Soon she would join the rest of the bridge crew that lost their lives. 

Several TIEs and a fighter in the shape of a claw flew past the debris back toward the fleet of Star Destroyers. She knew it was her wayward, vicious, and vengeful son that piloted that fighter. Corrupted by Snoke, Ben had committed the most reprehensible acts of violence against the most innocent among them. And Leia felt responsible. All her life she had worked to guard the galaxy from evil, but she could not protect the evils from her own son. But someone took on the challenge, and it was Nova. 

Like Leia, Nova still loved him despite everything that he’s done. 

She felt how Ben harnessed the Force and began pushing her back towards the Raddus, trying to save her from the same fate that bestowed the others but something was beckoning him back to the Supremacy. Dread for the girl, for Rey’s older sister. 

Being close to the blown up bridge from her son’s help, the stars blurred and a chill bit into her bones as she reached with the Force herself. She began riding the currents back into the hole of the cruiser bridge. 

Finn pushed himself up, groggy from the fall. The First Order attack had knocked him off his feet and into a bulkhead. He’d been chasing after Poe and Freya, but with the corridor branching ahead, he couldn’t tell which direction they had gone until he allowed himself a moment of peace. To focus with the Force. 

Rounding the bend, he skidded to a halt. There they were with Connix and a few other crew members crowded around an open airlock, where droids were carrying out a stretcher. “Her life signs are weak, but she’s fighting.” A medic reported. 

“Move back!” Poe had yelled. “Give room!” 

Finn stepped to the side to let the stretcher pass. On it lay none other than General Leia Organa. 

An object dropped from her hand and fell near Finn’s feet. No one else noticed, so Finn picked it up. It was the wrist beacon that the general had shown him on the bridge. He picks it up, examining the glowing beacon and knows that it had been no accident that it’d fallen from Leia’s hand and directly at his feet. It was a sign from Leia, to go and journey to the other person who held the other. Rey. 

Before dawn Luke came out again, outfitted for travel. Rey followed him to the edge of a cliff. The bay below was calm, though on the horizon loomed a storm. 

Luke grabbed a wooden pole that rested against the ledge. Long and thin, it extended all the way down into the water. Luke tested its strength, then to Rey’s astonishment, he used it as a lever to vault himself over the bay. She shouts, “be careful!” as he lands atop the cliff on the other side. He then pulls the pole out of the shallows, its end bore a sharp metal hook. 

Rey watched as Luke surveyed the waters. Without warning, he shoved the spear back into the sea. When he lifted the pole again, a fish bigger than Rey was hooked on its end. 

Luke shifted the pole to the rocky beach, where the fish flapped, its mouth tendrils wiggling. He leaned the pole against the ledge and walked down a path to the beach. Rey found a smiliat trail on her side of the cliff. 

By the time she reached the fish, the storm had hit. Rain pummeled her and the wind shrilled. It was so harsh she threw on the hood of her cloak. She’d worn the garment only for Jakku’s sandstorms, never once thinking she’d don it for rain. 

The inclement weather appeared to refresh Luke. He hoisted the giant fish over his shoulders and hiked up the path Rey had taken down. As he had before, he ignored her. But Rey trudged after him through the driving rain, hood up, staff in hand. 

That night, Rey stayed outside the hut. She was drenched, her teeth chattering from the cold as she held the wrist beacon Leia had given her. She kept tossing and turning, shivering and in her sleep she mumbles, “ _ Finn _ .” 

Finn slumped down in a corridor on the Raddus. Crew rushed past, occasionally glancing at him as if he could be doing something. But what could he do? The cruiser had lost its starfighters, so there was no need for his gunnery skills. And he knew nothing about repairing starships. The First Order had trained him to excel on the battlefield, not in engineering. 

The beacon he held continued to emit its warm glow, pulsing and he imagined it being Rey’s pulse; the light meant that she was alive and was in rhythm of her heart. 

He needed to go to her, it’s what Leia would’ve wanted. The general sensed his potential as a Force user and she believed that Luke would guide Finn to learn and master his talents. But how could he just abandon the Resistance after what took place? He believed he couldn’t. 

BB-8 roamed the hallway, halting before Finn. The droid bobbed his dome to the right and left, looking at Finn and beeping in concern, but Finn didn’t lift his head. He wasn’t in the mood for a pep talk and BB-8 did the next best thing, switching his projector on and a holographic recording flickered to life which caught the young man’s attention. 

In the Resistance’s medical center on D’Qar, Rey stood over Finn as he lay in a coma. She looked at him for some time, then learned over his recovery pod and kissed his lips gently. “We’ll see each other again. I believe that.” She said. 

The hologram vanished. Dust motes floated in Rey’s face. A few moments passed before Finn’s heart settled down. “Kinda weird you recorded that, but . . .” His gaze fell to the beacon in his grasp. It seemed to shine brighter than before. “Thank you,” he told BB-8. 

The droid burbled, then rolled away. Finn didn’t putter around either. He got to his feet and rushed down the corridor. He found Freya, asking for the coordinates to get to Ahch-To. Finn was going to find his way to Rey. 

Poe and the surviving members of the Resistance leadership sat in the tight space of the Raddus’s emergency bridge. Commander D’Acy, who had been on an errand when the attack destroyed the main bridge, addressed the assembled. “General Organa—Leia,” she said, with reverence, “is unconscious but recovering. That’s the only good news I have. Admiral Ackbar, all our leadership, they’re gone.” The crew began murmuring. “Leia was the sole survivor on the bridge.” 

Standing near Poe, C-3PO sounded like her was caught in a loop. “Oh, dear. Oh, dear . . .”

“If she were here,” D’Acy said, “she’d say save your sorrow for after the fight. To that end, the chain of command is clear as to who should take her place.”

Poe straightened in anticipation. Though they had their differences, Leia had always recognized his dedication to the Resistance. He would be proud to accept any leadership role on her behalf.

“Vice Admiral Holdo of the cruiser Ninka.” D’Acy said and stepped back.

The choice was such a surprise to Poe that he didn’t know whether he felt crushed or grateful he wasn’t picked. He had never met the vice admiral in person, but he had heard that she and General Organa had been friends since youth. He also knew she was recognized as a great strategic mind, admired even by Ackbar. 

“Thank you, Commander.” Dressed in a slender gown and neck wrap a few shades darker than her purple hair, Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo bore herself with dignity and grace. “Four hundred of us on three ships. We’re the very last of the Resistance. But we’re not alone. In every corner of the galaxy, the downtrodden and oppressed know our symbol, and they put their hope in it. We are that spark that will light the fire that will restore the Republic. That spark, this Resistance, must survive. That is our mission.” 

Her voice conveyed a quiet strength. Everyone on the bridge hung on to her words, including Poe.

“Now, to your stations. And may the Force be with us.” 

Poe blinked. That was it? She hadn’t given them any instructions. Yet no one else seemed puzzled. 

Poe leaned over to C’ai Threnalli, who was sitting next to him. “That’s Admiral Holdo? Battle of Chyron Belt Admiral Holdo?” 

The Abednedo mumbled an affirmative. 

“Not what I expected.” Poe said. A great military strategist should have formulated something more than a speech. 

As the others disbanded, Poe approached Holdo. “Vice Admiral? Commander Dameron. Without our current fuel consumption, there’s a very limited amount of time we can stay out of range of those Star Destroyers.”

“Very kind of you to make me aware.” She then leaned to Commander D’Acy. “Let’s get me those fuel projections.” 

“And we need to shake them before we find another base, so” he said. “What’s our plan?”

She rebuffed him immediately. “Our plan, captain? Not commander, right? Wasn’t it Leia’s last official act to demote you for your Dreadnought plan where we lose our entire bombing fleet?”

“Captain, commander, you can me whatever you like. I just wanna know what’s going on.” 

She smiles. “Of course you do. I understand. I’ve dealt with plenty of trigger happy flyboys like you. You’re impulsive. Dangerous. And the last thing we need right now.”

Holdo wasn’t being sarcastic. She was being serious. Poe just stared at her, placing his hands on his hips and gave her a look over as she continued. 

“So stick to your post and follow my orders.” She turned her back to him and went to a console. 

Poe froze, unsure of what he should do. BB-8 rolled around him, trying to buoy his spirits, but he needed something more than reassuring beeps. He needed wisdom and advice. He needed General Organa. 

Nova placed the last piece of Kylo’s broken helmet into her haversack and closed it tight, setting it on her nightstand and exhales softly. She runs her hand back through her long brown hair, massaging her scalp as she did and gives a small yawn. She figured it to be around bedtime but they were in a stretched out vicinity of pitch black and white specs with no moons; out in the middle of nowhere. The day had been long and seemed to go on forever, dragging on as she got back onto the Supremacy and were now following the Resistance fleet. She just wanted to lie down and to rest her weary head, to curl under the silky sheets of her accommodations and shut her eyes for a few hours to re-energize. 

Readjusting her crimson gauze wrappings, she pauses, seeing her black leather cuff and thinks about Rey and what she was currently doing. Did she end up finding Luke Skywalker? Was she training to be a Jedi now? Was she alive? Or dead? Nova shakes her head to get rid of that last thought. 

_ Back to square one, _ she tells herself. Worrying about her baby sister but one ever quite stops doing that, do they? 

“Ms. Hux!” A female voice captures her attention and she stares up to see a medical and protocol cyborg named LC6D entering her quarters. 

Nova didn’t know much about her or her past but she did know that she was once a full, pure human until she sustained massive injuries and needed cybernetic prostheses to keep her alive. LC6D, or Elsie as Nova called her, still had her human face but everything else was complete synthnet, though her hands were covered in syntheflesh to help her out whenever she was tending to a patient in the medbay—like Kylo. 

“Hi, Elsie.” Nova cooes back and stares down at her cuff again. “What are you here for?” 

“I sensed your distress.” 

Nova holds back a snort. “ _ My _ distress?” 

“Yes, Ms. Hux. My recent programming has been to detect any neurological changes of yours and to come right away at your aid.” She may of not had an animatronic voice but her flow of words were defined and with melody. 

Furrowing her brows, Nova asks, “And who programmed that into your head?” 

“Commander Ren.” No hesitation in her response. 

As she sits down, the corners of Nova’s lips shift upwards, allowing her to lightly smile for a moment as her eyes shift back down to her leather cuff and think about Rey. There was too much to realize, to come to terms with. The forest fight of Starkiller Base still lingered in the back of her mind; the look in Rey’s eyes when she was determined to strike Kylo dead, the aggression she even had towards Nova, let alone Nova calling on the Force and utilizing Kylo’s unstable lightsaber—the first lightsaber she ever held in her life! All of it was just too much at the moment, and yet, it felt . . . natural. Like when she Force choked Hux that day when he and Kylo crashed on her own little jungle home of Bylsma’s. 

“Ms. Hux,” Elsie begins softly, “you’re showing signs for despondency. My long history of data suggests that talking about it will help with your sadness. Would you like to talk about it?” 

It takes a moment for Nova to find the words, but once she does, she lets out her shallowest thought—her absolute. 

“Ever since I could remember, I’ve always felt different. I never knew why or where it came from, but it made me strong. However, I don’t believe it made my life any easier. Easier was being inside of a city, being with my parents and my sister, being at home. Then I was on Jakku with Rey and our parents had us stay with Unkar Plutt, I don’t know why but they did. It was just me and her, and after two years, I was then taken and exchanged throughout the galaxy. Ever since that, I’ve thought true power wasn’t being able to use the Force like how the Jedis did. True power is who you are, your heritage and if you don’t have that, you’re nothing . . .”

Nova grows quiet, her head dropping low to avoid Elsie’s gaze and swallowing harshly. Her memories shift through to try and seek the faces of her parents on that day, but she couldn’t see them and it wounded her deeply. She shakes her head as if her mind was a chalkboard and she was erasing the markings that were on it, brokenly chuckling to try and cover up her hurt even though Elsie was smarter than to believe something as fake as that laugh. 

“You can’t remember your parents.” It was a simple remark from the cyborg but the context behind it was so much more than five little words. 

Nova nods and Elsie sits down next to her slowly and casually, placing her hand onto hers that was fumbling about with the leather cuff. Nova peers up into her chocolate brown eyes and waits for her words, knowing that she was going to say something that was carefully prepared and well thought out. 

“That is why you accept the name of Hux, isn’t it? To belong to something again.” A pause. “You’ve always been searching for a sense of home in the most unimaginable places and circumstances, making most of what you were given, ever since your parents left you on Jakku—” 

“No,” Nova was quick to interject and slowly shake her head from side to side. “They . . . they didn’t leave us there. They were coming back. Rey and I—we both knew that they were coming back. It’s why we had to stay. Why I fought so hard to go back to Jakku.” 

Just then Elsie understood the matter that was at hand for the young scavenger. 

Nova knew the secret of her parents, if she would admit it. But she had buried her secrets deep and walled herself against them. It was as if she feared such secrets could destroy her. 

Elsie could not speak with someone as guarded as her. She had tried to do so before, and she had failed. The only thing she could do is go against what she was programmed to do and let the conversation drift off into nothingness, dismissing herself to go and check up on others who needed it. 

The humanoid cyborg stands at the door for a moment, stating, “Commander Ren will be getting his sutures out tomorrow morning.” Then she left. 

Nova wished her a farewell and once the door was sealed shut, she began taking off her black leather boots and belt along with her scarlet sashes. She rests her lightsaber over on the nightstand that was next to her bed, using the Force to shut off the light and slips under the covers to try and get some sleep. 


	13. A Force

The first step on Ahch-To and out of the escape pod was astounding to say the least for Finn, smelling the morning dew from last night’s rainfall. He spotted the Millennium Falcon through the foggy white and headed over, greeting the hairy Wookie who was dealing with little white and brown seabirds. He asked where Rey was and Chewbacca pointed up the island, telling him that Luke was refusing to return to save the Resistance and how Rey was staying until he did so.

Finn began his climb up a crumbling staircase. Slick stone made the going treacherous. One slip, and he’d fall off the cliff to smash on the rocks below. 

When he neared the top of the staircase, he began to hear whispers all around him and he stopped, peering all around him. The haze lifted, revealing the shrubbery and moss that greened the cliffside. No wind blew. Yet the whispers grew louder. They said nothing comprehensible, perhaps nothing at all. 

He climbed a few more steps before he saw the tree. 

It was a fortress of nature. Three pulpy offshoots stood guard around a gigantic central trunk. All had tops splintered like jagged crowns, and non bore foliage or branches. Only moss grew on the ashen bark. A wide gap in the trunk looked to a portal into the tree. 

Finn moved toward the gap. The whispers rose in volume, clearly emanating from the three. He ducked through the gap and entered the tree. 

The interior of the trunk had been hollowed out into a chamber. Strips of bark plastered the walls in intricate designs. There was no sign of rot, despite the damp conditions outside. 

A strange illumination drew his focus. In an alcove surrounded by a sunburst pattern of bark rested a shelf of dusty books. They seemed to shine with a light of their own. 

The whispers became a hum—not of voices but of energy. The books were _calling_ to him. 

He stepped closer to them. They weren’t everyday datapads or electronic binders, but leather-bound tomes of flimsy and paper. He grabbed for one, opening it and began reading through the decorated pages that held elaborate runes. They were mysterious and captivating, even familiar, at the same time. 

Something within Finn flickered to life, becoming a licking flame and it engulfed his entire body. His hands buzzed and his feet felt like static, electric coursed through his veins and before he knew it, the whole left side of his body tingled as he felt an oncoming presence. 

“Finn?” 

He turned at the sound of Rey’s voice. She stood in the doorway, her eyes filling with salty tears and Skywalker himself was behind her, regarding him. 

“Rey,” he breathlessly replies, closing the book he held and rushed up to her, wrapping his arms around her tightly. She clings to him to the best of her ability, still clutching her staff in hand, smiling.

 _Rey_ —he was with her once again. 

When their eyes met after pulling away, Finn felt whole like he was at peace and Rey just fluttered her eyelashes, staring up at him as if she couldn’t believe that he was there with her. He was just as striking as the first time she’d met him; a Resistance fighter. 

“Who are you?” Luke’s voice enters through their moment of connecting. 

He looks at him. “I’m Finn. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Skywalker.” 

Luke takes a step forward. “I see you found the temple, Finn. Built a thousand generations ago to keep the original Jedi texts, the foundation of the ancient faith.” He removed the same book that Finn had picked up and opened it. “They were the first, and now just like me, they’re the last of the Jedi religion.” 

He closes the book and turns to Finn and Rey, both of the younger youths who held such a connection with the Force, both who had wandered their ways to the library. 

“You’re both here, why?” He narrowed his eyes. 

“The Resistance sent me.” Rey answered first, then lingered her stare up at Finn, awaiting for his answer. 

Finn frowns. “The First Order attacked our fleet, blew up the hangar and the bridge. Leia was on the bridge when they did, as well as many others. Leia was the only one that survived, and she was taken to the medbay to try and stabilize.” 

At the mention of his twin sister, Luke’s facial expression changed. His eyes become lighter, his forehead loosens and he takes a small step back to think through what Finn was telling him. 

“Leia told me before that I should be here.” He adds.

That peeked Luke’s interest, and he stared back and forth between the two. “She sent the both of you. Why? What’s special about the both of you? Jedi lineage? Royalty?” 

Rey wished she was royalty while Finn pondered being special, but neither one didn’t dare to reveal what they actually were. 

“Orphans.” Luke said, reading them in silence. “Where are you from?” 

Finn had no clue, he was taken even before he could speak. He’d never know his family, where he comes from, and that was one thing he envied about Rey. She did. 

“Nowhere.” Her voice is small. 

“No one’s from nowhere.” 

She sighs. “Jakku.”

A hint of a smile tugged the corners of his mouth. “Alright, that is pretty much nowhere. Why are you here, Rey from Nowhere?” 

“The Resistance sent me.” She repeats. “We desperately need your help—”

Luke’s smile vanished. “Why are you here? Why are the both of you here?” 

Rey diverted her eyes and glances to Finn for comfort, and he gave her it as he stared back. She knew what Luke meant. There was a reason Leia sent the both of them and not Poe Dameron or someone more qualified for this mission. Leia had recognized their extraordinary gifts. 

“We’re in touch with the Force.” Finn begins, glancing at the old Jedi legend. “It’s a part of us and we’re a part of it.” 

“And it’s always been there, but now it’s”—Rey paused, grasping for the right word—“conscious. And I . . I’m afraid. I don’t know what it is or what to do, and I need help. I need someone to show me my place in all of this.” 

“And I,” Finn starts again. “I didn’t make it as a Stormtrooper, it felt wrong, and I knew it. When I touched your lightsaber for the first time, it felt like I belonged. Something that I never felt before in the First Order.” 

“You both need a teacher.” 

For a moment, Rey’s hopes returned but like a spark, they fizzled out when Luke spoke again. 

“I can’t teach you.” 

“Why not?” Rey asks. “I’ve seen your daily routine. You’re not busy.” 

“Yoda taught me how to be a Jedi, not how to train one. Let alone two.” 

Luke steps around them, about to leave through the gap but Finn spins on his heel and stares at his retreating back. “You taught Kylo Ren. Ben Solo.” 

Luke stops, leaning a hand against the trunk. “I failed to turn him from the Dark Side. I will never train another generation of Jedi. I won’t make this problem any worse than it already is.” 

Rey shook her head. This was Luke Skywalker, the icon of the Rebellion, who had defeated Death Stars and the Emperor and had single handedly resurrected the Jedi Order from its ashes. How could he give up on what he had spent the greater part of his life building? 

“We’ll train ourselves.” Finn says with authority. “This island is a safe haven for knowledge about Jedi. So we’ll train ourselves.” 

“No. I won’t create any more Sith.” He stares out at the island, then looks back at him. “I came to this island to die, and to make sure the Jedi Order dies with me. It’s time for all of this to end.” 

Luke walks out of the library, leaving them alone. Rey realizes that she had been right. The island was haunted. The great Luke Skywalker, Mast of the Jedi, was but a ghost of the hero he once had been. 

It was the dead of night when Luke flipped up the hood of his cloak and slipped out his hut. Rey snored on an outdoor bench with Finn, too deep in sleep to notice him. He would have melted into the night if it wasn’t for the flaming torch he held. It lit his way up the cliff to the giant tree, where he would do what he should have done long before. 

Before he entered the trunk, he felt a presence from the past appear behind him. “Master Yoda.” 

Small and green, with pointy ears, playful eyes, and wisps of white hair, the wizened old goblin leaned on a walking stick and grinned. “Young Skywalker,” he croaked, as if decades hasn’t passed since he’d last seen Luke on Dagobah. 

Luke knew such time didn’t amount much in Yoda’s lifespan, but to Luke it seemed like an eternity. And during that eternity Luke had come to a grim realization. Yoda and Obi-Wan might have forged him into a weapon to fight the Emperor and Darth Vader, yet they had failed to equip him with knowledge to stamp out the darkness for good. Their belief in the return of the Jedi had led Luke to err in his teaching and produce another Darth Vader in Kylo Ren. 

“You didn’t teach me anything about being a master, and look at what happened.” Luke tells him sadly, holding his torch high. “I can’t allow it to happen again. I’m ending all of this. The tree, the text, the Jedi. I’m going to burn it down. Don’t try to stop me.” 

Yoda didn’t try anything. He shuffled aside, putting up no defense at all. 

Luke stepped toward the tree, grappling with what he was about to do. A single lick of flame would burn it down millennia of scholarship. The history of the Jedi, their secret lore and ancient wisdom, would be gone. Not because some evil emperor or dark lord had destroyed them, but because he, Luke Skywalker, had decided such knowledge was best not learned. 

He had been preparing himself to do this for years. Yet now he couldn’t. 

Yoda snuffed in annoyance, just as he had on Dagobah when Luke failed one of his lessons. He lifted a gnarled finger toward the tree. Lightning shot forth and hit the trunk to do what Luke could not. 

The library began to burn. 

Guilt suddenly seized Luke’s heart. What had his old master done? He dropped his torch and tried to smother the fire with his robes while Yoda cackled. “Oh, Skywalker. Missed you, I have.” 

Luke rushed toward the hollow in a vain effort to salvage what he could. But the fire roared at him, sending him back in the grass with an explosion. There was nothing he could do. And if Yoda had permitted it, perhaps Luke hadn’t been so wrong in his decision after all. 

“So, it _is_ time for the Jedi Order to end.”

“Time it is,” Yoda said, turning to stare at him. “For you to look past a pile of old books, hmm?” 

“The sacred Jedi texts.” Branches fell from the tree and the fire blazed like a funeral pyre, consuming everything within. Luke hadn’t expected to regret the library’s loss, but regret it he did. 

“Oh. Read them, have you? Page turners they were not. Yes, yes, yes. Wisdom they held, but these are not what Rey and Finn need.”

Luke peers at the diminutive creature. Was he truly the ghost of the Jedi Master who had once led the Council and gone into hiding to save the Order? Or was he just a figment of Luke’s imagination? 

“Skywalker,” Yoda said with a heavy sigh, “still looking to the horizon. Never here. Never now. The need in front of your nose.” He dinged his walking stick on the bridge of Luke’s nose. “Hmm?” 

Luke was loath to admit it, but the tiny Jedi Master had a point. 

“The Jedi failed. I . . . I failed, Master Yoda. I was weak. Unwise.” 

“Lost Ben Solo, you did. Lose Finn and Rey, we cannot.” 

“I can’t be a mentor to them. I cannot be what they believe I am.” 

“Heeded my words not, did you? ‘Pass on what you have learned’.” Yoda repeats the words he had uttered on his deathbed. “Wisdom, yes. Strength, mastery. But weakness, and folly, failure also. Yes, failure most of all. The greatest teacher, failure is.” 

Yoda might as well have been talking about himself. Was the Jedi Order’s failure to stop the rise of the Empire why Yoda fled to a swamp planet rather than return to confront the Emperor? If Yoda, with his talent in the Force, had led the fight from the outset, he could have reestablished the Jedi and saved the galaxy so much pain. 

Yet Yoda had not incited more war. He had retreated in defeat. _Wars not make one great_ , he’d told Luke when they’d first met. His exile had allowed the galaxy—in the guise of young Luke Skywalker—to come to him. 

Luke had followed Yoda’s example by secluding himself to Ahch-To. He had accepted failure and defeat, but what he hadn’t accepted was the idea of forgiving himself. He’d made mistakes in teaching Ben Solo, yet that didn’t mean what he had taught was wrong, or even that Finn and Rey would follow in Ben’s path. Good teachers were not tyrants. They could not control how the students used the knowledge they were taught. Teachers could on;y pass on what they themselves had learned. For hadn’t Yoda taught him, despite knowing the sins of his father, Anakin Skywalker? The Jedi Master had never given up on the hope that every student, no matter their background, could apply what they learned to bring light into the universe. 

“Luke, we are what they grow beyond.” Nine centuries of wrinkles furrowed Yoda’s brow. “That is the true burden of all masters.” 

The sun had not yet risen on Ahch-To when Luke returned to the village once the fire burned out and smoke curled and vanished into the husk of the tree. He walked to the bench where Rey and Finn slept and waited. When they both opened their eyes, he spoke. 

“Tomorrow, at dawn. Three lessons. I will teach you the ways of being a Jedi.” 

He turned away from them and entered his hut, closing the door. Now it was time for him to rest so he could maintain the strength and courage to pass on what he had learned. 

_I’ll come back for you. I promise._

The star freighter’s hatch closed, and its engines warmed. Rey shouts desperately and Nova tries to run for it but Unkar Plutt’s meaty hand holds onto their forearms with a death grip. No amount of squirming or wriggling would release the both of them. They were only small human children while Plutt was an overweight, overgrown Crolute. 

“Come back!” Rey shrieked at the ship. “Come back!” 

Her cries caused Plutt to squeeze her arm so tightly it hurt. Nova witnesses it and takes her little sister from his grasp, placing her into her own and stared off in heartbreak at the freighter lifting off. The ship roared toward the Jakku’s sun, never to come back as promised. 

Nova shouts and everything freezes in place, the freighter, Rey’s screaming, and Unkar Plutt’s grumbles. In a rewind, the ship flies backwards back down on the ground and Nova’s able to step out from Unkar’s hold. The ramp opens and Nova’s able to see two silhouettes; a man and a woman. Her parents. 

She ran up, getting close to her mother and was able to see her in perfect detail for the first time. Her brown hair was the shade of hers and her eyes were hazel, mostly green with brown speckles, just like Nova’s as well. Her chin was pointy and her face was round, resembling a heart. 

Nova then turns to her father, his features blackened and distorted, she couldn’t see anything of him and no matter how hard she tried to will it, there was no use. He was hidden from her and it pained her heart incredibly. “Why can’t I see you?” 

Her father turns, voice distorted and says, “Because you don’t want to know.” 

“Don’t want to know what?” 

He turns back, facing forwards and ignores her. 

“Don’t want to know what?” She repeats, demanding this time as she began tugging on his arm for him to look back at her. “What don’t I want to know? Tell me. Please!” Tears push to her eyes, clenching her jaw as sniffles ensue. “Say Something! _Please_!” 

Nova woke up with a jolt, her eyes flying open and sitting up in her bed. She shifts her stare all around, remembering where she was and exhales softly before running a hand back through her hair. She brings up her other arm, leaning forwards and rests her head in her hands. She blinks and the afterimages of the bad dream, or whatever it was, fades away. 

Stretching her body, she slid off the bed and stepped towards her closet to undress out of her black tunic and pants, then stopped. She wasn’t alone in her bedroom. 

The livewire presence washed over her, already knowing that presence and turns to face the other side of the room. She saw him, somehow, undergoing surgery. He winces as a droid pulls stitches from his face, and Nova could feel the ache and sting of the wound, as if she was drawn into his suffering. 

He then lifts his head, his dark mane fluttering flawlessly and brushing his shoulders as he motions for the droid to stop. Kylo’s head then rotates, landing on her and he pauses, letting his eyes bask in her form. Getting up on his feet, he takes two steps forwards and stops. He knew that something like this happened before and just like before, he thought about her and felt her despair from her dream as she slept. He wanted to be there when she woke up but Elsie made it very clear that he needed his sutures removed, so she kept him in the medcenter until he was finished. 

“You alright?” 

“Think I should be asking you that question.” She responds, gently touching her right cheek from where she still felt the dull soreness. 

“It’s nothing to worry about.” He takes another step closer. “I just wanna be with you. Just you.” 

The phrase takes Nova by surprise, her heart leaping down into her stomach as she cradles her own cheek in her palm. Kylo stares at it, wishing it had been his that was caressing her instead. 

“So do I.” She confesses. 

A knock on the door and she turns, staring out into the living and dining area of her quarters towards the door. She knew by the knock that it was Armitage waking her up for her daily routine of getting breakfast in the cafeteria and then get medically checked by the nurse droids. 

Nova spun back around toward Kylo but like Starkiller Base, he was gone and she was left with General Hux at her door, reminding her of her schedule. She grabs her sashes, putting them on and wraps her waist sash around before placing on her black belts. Grabbing a new pair of socks, she slips her feet into her boots and holds out her hand, calling to her lightsaber. It smacks into her left palm and she clips it to her belt, exiting her bedroom and heads to the door to greet Armitage as she did every morning. 

Nova sat down with her Panna cake, drizzling carbosyrup over them and cutting the fluffy cakes into little triangles like how she always did and began eating slowly. Growing up how she did, she learned to eat fast yet slow, light and in small pieces, but just enough not to get full. Anything could happen within a second so it was best to eat a certain way to ensure that you wouldn’t become lazy and still have energy for later. 

A person sits down in front of her and tries to hide her grin. “I see you’re with me now.” 

“And I saw you made your own lightsaber.” Kylo says, his leather gloved hands resting on top of the table. Without him even asking, she takes it off her belt and places it on the table for him to see it. 

He takes it gently, examining it and feeling how comfortable it was in his own hands. A strange occurrence because it wasn’t his and yet, it was perfectly snug in his grasp. Another thing to take note of and to explore. 

His dark hazel eyes scan over Nova’s features, seeing the small mole freckle on the corner of her lips and thought it complimented her looks and added a tinge of adorableness. She was strong willed and gentle all at once. She was like the ocean, deep and emotional, and she was like the sun, radiate and warm loving. She was capable of hate and of tenderness. She was dark and light, a push and pull. Kylo’s want and need. His desire and his ally. 

Kylo rests the lightsaber back down, seeing how Nova finishes off a cake and a half, leaving a full and half of one untouched. She offers it to him and he accepts it, taking her fork in his gloved hand and stabbing the fluffy cake before popping the bite into his mouth to chew. She takes a sip of her blue milk, swallows it and takes another drink before giving the rest to Kylo. Her cyclical doing that he realized. Had she learned it from her many owners? Or did she just have a natural good heart and whenever she sees people less fortunate than her, she just hands out her own portions of food? Whatever it may be, it made Kylo feel appreciated and not in the condescending way that Snoke made him feel. 

Snoke’s praises and remarks left Kylo belittled and a shell of himself but Nova, her intentions were pure and of endearment. Something that he was hardly shown throughout his entire life. She’d always mean more to him then she’d never know, and he was fine with that. Because it kept her safe, away from the enemy—or atleast, it used to because now, it was different. Snoke knew, and Rey knew, and even his mother too. 

If Kylo could just hold onto her for a little bit longer, a little bit tighter, he’d be alright with that. 

Hairless humanoids in white robes and headdresses woke up Finn and he doubled blinked to make sure that what he was seeing was real. Their skin was rubbery, like that of an amphibian, and tinted the grey-blue of the surrounding sea. Two large eyes rested on either side of their melon shaped heads, with twin blowholes and a pursed mouth between. They trundled about the village on three toed feet, mumbling to each other in a singsong tongue. 

He stood at the doorway of his hut that he’d taken shelter in to escape the night’s rain after Luke woke him and Rey up, yawning. He peers over at the one that Rey slept in, seeing her stepping out in the sunlight of the other world. She landed her eyes on him, smiling wide and he does too. 

Footsteps sounded and Luke Skywalker stood outside his hut, motioning for the two students to follow after. He led them up another staircase, this one spiraling up to the highest of the two mountains on the island. 

“Who were those things?” Finn asks. 

“Caretakers,” Luke said. “Island natives. They’ve kept up the Jedi structures since they were built.” 

A section of the staircase hugged the cliff. Cooing and chirping sounded from small dark holes in the rock wall. The occasional avian perched on a step, blinking at Rey with big black eyes. “Can you tell me what those chubby birdlike things are?” She spoke. 

“Porgs.” 

“ _Porgs?_ ” 

“Porgs,” Luke confirmed. 

After strenuous effort, they climbed the last stair and arrived on a short shelf of rock near the summit. A cave was carved into the mountain behind them. Finn and Rey both felt a pull toward the mouth of the cave but Luke took them to the ledge instead where the height provided an unsurpassed view of the ocean. Giant waves crashed on rocks below, and the sky met the sea along a grey horizon. 

Luke broke a stalk off a plant that grew between the cracks in the rock. He rolled it back and forth in his palm. “What do you two know about the Force?” 

Rey knew virtually nothing. On Jakku, no one talked about the Force. Life was too hard to believe in anything that didn’t immediately put food in your belly. But she dared not show Luke her ignorance. 

“It’s a power that the Jedi have, that lets them control people and . . . make things float.” She says, fumbling through what little she knew. 

“Impressive,” Luke quipped. “Every word in that sentence was wrong.” 

Rey felt foolish for not asking Leia more. She had left D’Qar in such a rush. Her gaze travels to Finn, for it was his turn to speak. 

“It connects all living things and some are sensitive to it, they’re able to harness it.” Finn nods, knowing that much because of Kylo Ren’s displays of it within the First Order. 

Luke smiles, nodding. “And this is lesson one. Sit here. Legs crossed.” 

When Finn and Rey seated themselves atop the stone, Luke with reverence that neither one of them had heard before. 

“The Force is not a power you have. It’s not about floating rocks. It’s the energy between all things, a tension, a balance that binds the universe together.” 

“Okay.” Rey says. His description could’ve characterized a thousand other mythical traditions. “But what _is_ it?” 

“Close your eyes. The both of you.” 

They both did as told. The world becomes one of sound: waves breaking, gulls cawing, and the measured tones of Luke’s voice. 

“Breathe,” he says. 

They inhale and exhale, filling their lungs with the salty sea air. With every breath, their heartbeats slowed and calmness settled over them. 

“Now . . . Reach out.” 

Rey lifted an arm and stretched out her hand. Something danced on the tips of her fingers and she gasped, excited. “I feel something!” 

“Then I must be doing it wrong, I don’t feel anything.” Finn comments. 

“But you do, Rey?” Luke asks. 

Most definitely, she did—so much that it tickled. “Yes, I feel it!” 

“That’s the Force.” 

“Really?” It seemed so easy to access its power. Just a few breaths and her palm tingled with new energy. If only she had known this method before, her hardscrabble life could’ve been far different. 

Luke sounded equally astounded. “Wow, it must be really strong with you.” 

Her confidence soared. “I’ve never felt any—” 

She yelped as pain shot through her palm. Opening her eyes, she realized that what she had felt wasn’t the Force at all, but the reed Luke held. He had smacked her hand with it. Finn had opened his eyes too, making sure that she was alright. 

Her cheeks reddened in embarrassment at being so easily tricked. Luke hadn’t been talking about stretching her hands at all. “You meant ‘reach out’ like . . .” Not knowing exactly how to define it, she pointed to her center. Her heart. He nods. 

She closes her eyes, determined to try again and Finn holds her hand as he does the same.

“Breathe,” Luke said once more. “Just breathe.” 

Out and in went their breaths, slowly but surely. Peace returned, deeper than before. 

“Now,” Luke said, “reach out with your feelings.” 

Every one of their senses branched out and a new awareness of the world came to them, informed by the little things they would have missed otherwise. Rey felt moisture on the boulder beneath her and smelled the algae that flourished in the seashore pools. Finn tasted a gust of moldy air coming from within the cave and heard the mating song of some faraway leviathan. 

“What do you see?” 

“The island,” Rey tells him first, perceiving it in all its glory, as if she were one of the gulls gliding above. It was quickly replaced by a vision of flowers blooming before her. “Life,” she says, enjoying the flowers’ lovely fragrance, yet also sniffing out the rot in the soil from which they grew. “Death and decay,” she added, watching blades of grass shoot from the dirt, “that feeds new life.” 

For Finn, a view of the mountainside presented itself, splendid in the sunlight. “Warmth,” he informs Luke, shuddering as he was plunged deep into the sea, “and coldness.” 

His perception returned to the cliff, where a mother porg doted over her nest. “Peace,” Finn observed, touched by the maternal affection. The scene was swiftly upended as a wave smashed into the nest. “Violence,” he said, as the sea snatched the eggs. 

“And between it all?” Luke asked them. 

Finn and Rey both shift attention. They let the images and smells, feelings and sounds fade into the background and instead concentrated on the ways those details came to them, the paths that brought their senses alive. 

Luke was right. There was something in between. It connected Rey and Finn to the rock, the porgs, the sea, the waves, the island, and to each other. Untouchable yet tangible, invisible yet bright. 

“A balance,” Finn begins, “of energy.” 

It was more than a source of power. Much more. A set of principles governed it. It held influence, yet did not judge. Most simply, it attracted things; like gravity, like love. And Rey finally— _finally_ —understood it in terms of Nova and Kylo’s bond. They were attached to each other, both gravitating towards one another. It was love. It was . . . 

“A . . . force,” she speaks aloud.

“And inside of you?” 

“Inside me . . .” And there it was, encompassing her, too, as if there were no difference between the inside and the out. Like Nova, she was gravitating towards someone too and he was right besides her, holding her hand. “That same force.” 

“This is the lesson,” Luke comments. “The Force does not belong to the Jedi. It is so much bigger. To say that if the Jedi die, the light dies is vanity.” 

Finn’s senses took control. “There’s something else here. A powerful light. Blinding.” 

“This is the first Jedi temple. The concentration of light.” 

“But there’s something else.” In his mind’s eye he saw a hole in the rock, ringed by a reddish moss. “Beneath the island. A place. It’s cold but . . . It’s not evil. Something’s down there, a crystal.” 

Luke focuses on Finn. “Describe it.” 

“It’s clear, glowing, seems to be . . . calling for me to get it.”

“A Kyber.” Luke informs him. “The most important piece of creating one’s lightsaber. They grow in nature and when it’s time for a younglings, they call out to them to find them. Yours seems to be calling for you.” 

Finn peels his eyes open, staring up at Luke. “But I’m not a Jedi.” 

“Not yet.” He corrects him with assurance. 

From the window of his ready room, Kylo Ren observed the flurry of activity down in the Supremacy’s hangar. Stormtrooper platoons boarded assault shuttles. Pilots strapped themselves into TIE fighters. Support staff maglocked droid walkers to the sides of transports. In the center stood Captain Phasma, her chrome armor spotless, her red trimmed cape hanging from a shoulder. 

Rumors abounded that saboteurs has waylaid Phasma on Starkiller Base and thrown her into a trash compactor. Even if there was truth to the rumor, a trash compactor would have never ended the career of a soldier of her stature. Though she usually sided with General Hux, Kylo was pleased she hadn’t met her demise. Phasma would lead the First Order’s forces in eradicating the Resistance wherever it dared to make its last stand. Victory would soon be at hand. 

He felt the tingle of her presence again, like cobwebs that couldn’t be swept from his mind. How they were connected to each other, he didn’t know. But linked they were and he was grateful for it. The Force was not bound by the limitations of space, distance, or time. 

He felt Nova still reeling from her bad dream, trying not to think about it and he would be lying if he hadn’t been doing the same. Kylo had seen into her nightmare that morning, how she demanded to know what her father meant by what he was saying and why his identity wouldn’t be revealed to her. He didn’t mention it, but it was in his mind playing over and over on a loop. He was perplexed and like Nova, he wanted to know what secret her father was hiding from her. 

From behind, he senses her arrival and he shifts on his feet, turning to see her. She stood with her hair in two pigtails, messing with her cuff, a nervous tell of hers but she smiles at him. Her recognition solidified their bond. She could see him and Kylo could see her, as if they existed in the same place. He went toward her. 

“New look?” He motions to her long, straight brown hair being in two elastics. 

She playfully shrugs. “Elsie wanted to make me feel better by playing with my hair. Thank you, by the way.” 

He nods, trying to remain authoritative and not like a child who was given praise for doing such a simple task. “It was nothing.” 

“Maybe not to you, but to me, it was. Thank you.” She says softly, her voice soothing. “Ben?” 

He looks at her, not completely responding to his old name but letting her know that she had his undivided attention. His heart beating fast as his eyes were directly on her, never leaving. Oh, if he could, he’d just watch her all day. Every little thing she did was beautiful and breathtaking, she spoke with such melody and had grace that it was hard to drown her out or ignore her even if you tried. 

“Do you have any idea why the Force is doing this? Why it’s . . .”

“Connecting us?” She nods to his words. “No. But nothing happens by accident.” 

Nova draws in a deep breath. “So you think these are happening for a purpose?” 

Kylo doesn’t answer, standing firm. He had no idea how to answer her. If they were happening for purpose, what would it be? And why? He felt like a Padawan again; trying to guide his way through and learn of the Force to make sense of it. Maybe he would later, but right now, he had no clue. 

Without another word, the connection ended and he wasn't sure how. But Kylo was left alone in the ready room once again, already missing Nova's blinding light. 


	14. Godspeed

Paige’s death hit Rose hard. 

The initial shock she’d felt learning what had befallen Paige’s bomber had spiraled into grief. Her older sister meant everything to her. Paige was the person Rose had admired since her first memory. The two had spent their childhoods together, suffering through the First Order’s brutal takeover of the mining colony where they grew up, looking out for each other in those dark hours, yet also trading joys and laughs and secrets only sisters could share. 

Rose held a medallion of Haysian smelt that hung from her necklace. It was the shape of a half crescent and engraved with the emblem of her home. Paige had worn a medallion just like it. Their matched pair represented the double planet system of Otomok, containing Hays Major and Hays Minor, their homeworld. It also signified the closet of bonds between Rose and her older sister. 

But that was the least of her worries at the moment. 

In General Organa’s quarters where Leia lays in a coma with C-3PO by her bedside as medical droids fussed about her and cared for her every need—Freya, Poe, Connix, and Rose were making conversation about how the First Order was able to track them through lightspeed. 

“We jump through lightspeed again, they’ll just show up seconds later. We already blew a ton of fuel, which we’re running dangerously low on.” Freya started. 

“Hyperspace tracking is new tech, but the principle must be the same as any active tracker. I’ve done maintenance on active trackers. They’re single source, to avoid interference. So—”

Freya got the gist of what she was saying. If the First Order could operate only a single hyperspace tracker at a time, it would be installed on the most powerful vessel in the armada, the Mega Destroyer. The Supremacy. 

“They’re only tracking us from the lead ship!” Freya and Rose said at the same time. 

“So we blow it up?” Poe questions, staring at the two girls. 

“No, no. They would just start tracking us from another Destroyer. But if we can sneak on board the Supremacy and disable the tracker without getting caught—”

“—they won’t realize it’s off from one systems cycle.” Rose finishes. “For about six minutes.” She wanders over to the holoprojector, displaying a schematic of the Mega Destroyer that Poe had been studying earlier. 

“Rose and I sneak on board. Disable the tracker, and our fleet escapes before they realize.”

Connix then motions towards Freya. “You sure about this? Going back to the First Order?” 

Freya draws in a deep breath, nodding. “It’s the right thing to do. And I know the layout of the Destroyer by heart, I stayed on it for about two years before I was thought dead and escaped.” 

“But if someone remembers you—” 

“I know.” Freya nods. She understood the dangers of the mission but she was willing to deal her cards and lay it all out on the table to save the Resistance; to save her family. 

Poe went over to General Organa on her bunk. He looked at her, touching her hand, as if to discern what she would advise. 

“If I must be the sole voice of reason,” interjected C-3PO. “Vice Admiral Holdo will never approve this plan. In fact, it’s exactly the sort of brash heroics that would particularly infuriate her.” 

Poe’s attitude suddenly changed. “You’re right, Threepio. This plan is need-to-know.” He then turned, staring at the girls. “And _she_ doesn’t.”

“That wasn’t exactly what I—”

“Alright.” He nods and heads towards Freya and Rose. “You guys shut down that tracker, and Connix and I’ll be here to jump us to lightspeed. How do we sneak the two of you onto Snoke’s Destroyer?” 

“We steal clearance codes.” Rose states.

“No, they’re bihexacrypted and rescrambled every hour. We can’t get through their security shields undetected.” Freya sighed. “Nobody can.”

Poe then smirked, a person already in mind. “Threepio, reach out to your droid contacts on Takodana and see if you can get ahold of Maz Kanata.” 

The droid scolded Poe that he shouldn’t be unmasking a top secret spy network among present low ranking company, but complied with the request. Not long after, the three dimensional form of the tiny smuggler with big goggles appeared on the room’s holotransceiver. Armed with a blaster, Maze appeared to be engaged in a firefight, shooting at unseen enemies. 

Put cut to the chase and asked her if she could get them clearance codes. 

“Could I do it?” Maz asks. “Of course I could do it. But I can’t do it. I’m a little tied down right now.”

“Maz? What’s happening?” He furrowed his brows. 

“Union dispute. You don’t want to hear about it. But lucky for you, there’s exactly one guy that I trust who can get you past that kind of security. A master codebreaker, an ace pilot, a poet with a blaster.” 

“Oh!” C-3PO exclaimed. “It sounds like this codebreaker can do everything!” 

“Oh, _yes_. He can.” The way Maz said it, grinning and blinking her large eyes, Freya and Rose understood the context and exchanged uncomfortable grimaces. “He’s sympathetic to the Resistance,” she adds. “You’ll find him with a red plom bloom on his lapel rolling at the high stakes table in the casino on Canto Bight.” 

“Canto Bight? No, no. That’s . . .” Poe stopped himself from elaborating further. “Maz, is there any way that we can take care of this ourselves?”

A blaster bolt zinged past Maze and she fired back. “Sorry, kiddo. This is rarefied cracking. You want on that Destroyer, you got one option: find the Master Codebreaker.” The transmission then cut out. 

Their mission settled, Freya handed the wrist beacon that Finn gave to her before he left over to Poe and left to commandeer a transport pod with Rose.

The girls flew away from the Raddus, unnoticed by Vice Admiral Holdo. The pod’s small size made it indiscernible to the First Order’s active tracker, allowing it to leap into hyperspace without attracting any pursuit. It arrived in the Cantonica system exactly according to plan, but for one small issue. Freya found a stowaway next to the toilet. 

“What are you doing here?” 

BB-8 rolled out of the restroom into the main cabin, beeping innocently. 

Lingering at the door, Rose raised an eyebrow at the droid. “Watching after us?” She looked to Freya. “We’re on approach. Strap in.” 

Freya smirked. “Poe’s going to kill me for stealing his droid.” 

She followed Rose into the cockpit. The orb of Cantonica hung before them out of the viewport. A medium sized ocean added a splash of blue to the otherwise drab and desert covered planet. Along the ocean’s crescent edge lay their intended destination, the blinking lights of Canto Bight. 

“The fleet’s only got eighteen hours of fuel left. We gotta hurry.” Freya commented before landing the transport pod on a beach. 

When they disembarked, an Abednedo in a white robe started jabbering at them that they’d landed on a public beach. They ignored him and hurried along the boardwalk into the city. 

Sailboard and yachts drifted in the bay, glowing in the sunset. Luxury landspeeders cruised the coastal highways. Shoreline hotels offered romantic retreats for the wealthy and the connected. For those who couldn’t afford an ocean view, such fortune might be won a block away. The main strip of Canto Bight’s renowned casinos glittered like a case of gems, with each establishment trying to outshine the others in extravagance. 

Maz had no divulged where exactly the Master Codebreaker could be found, so they entered the largest gambling den they came across, the Canto Casino. It was a palace for high stakes gambling, where millions of credits were bet one everything from jubilee wheels and zinbiddle tournaments to pongobungo cards and even blob races. Musicians tootled current hits from a side stage, waiters and waitresses walked the floor serving free drinks, and all the patrons were dressed in the height of fashion. 

Freya sighed. She once visited Canto Bight as a Stormtrooper, as FY-4201, years ago. She’d remembered Kylo and Hux talking to the leader of the city about selling weapons to them in exchange for wealth. Her job then was to be on lookout and to keep an eye on the newest addition to the Order, Nova Hux. But the Troopers shared news upon their groups and Freya learned that Canto Bight had their glory because of the First Order, and it chilled her to the bone. All these people would sell to war just to keep lavish lifestyles. 

“Maz said this Master Codebreaker would have a red plom blossom on his lapel. Let’s find him and get out of here.” Rose states and Freya couldn’t agree with her more. 

Freya started after her, noticing that BB-8 was waylaid behind them. A monocled amphibian in white tie and tails, burping from the booze he was drinking, mistook the ball droid for a lugjack machine and jammed credit chips into BB-8’s data slot. 

Freya wasn’t too worried, she knew the droid would catch up with them. The astromech had handled worse than an intoxicated gambler. 

Rose maintained a brisk pace through the busy casino, glancing at people’s lapels. Freya did too but she stopped when a loud braying sound disrupted her and the heart pounding rumble that succeeded it. A pack of long eared, long limbed creatures galloped past the window wall to the glee of the patrons. 

Rose’s eyes widened. “Were those what I think they were?” Without explanation, she hurried under an arch, leaving the casino floor. 

Freya joined her on an outdoor balcony. Below them graceful four legged beasts raced around a circular track, spurred by jockeys on their backs and spectators in the stands. “Fathiers?” 

Rose gawked at the creatures, nodding. “They were Paige’s favorite animals when we were kids. She never got to see one. So beautiful.” 

Freya peered through a pair of electrobinoculars mounted to the balcony’s rail. The enhanced view showed her just how majestic the fathiers were. They held their tawny heads high and raced with a noble pride, even as their jockeys spurred them with electro-whips. 

Slowly, she peers to Rose to see her frowning. Freya knew that she and Paige grew up in a poor mining system and how the First order stripped their ore to finance their military, then shelled them to test their weapons. And now being at Canto Bight, the ones who sold weapons to the Order, she could only imagine what she was thinking in her head in that very second. 

BB-8 darted up to them, making a racket with the credit chips clattering inside his round body. He parked before Rose and let out a rapid series of beeps. 

“Red plom bloom.” She grinned. 

The three dart back inside, BB-8 leading the way and Freya caught sight of him. A stylish human with slicked back hair at one of the high stakes gaming tables. A crimson petaled flower was pinned to the lapel of a white dinner jacket. 

“The Master Codebreaker.”

Freya immediately understood how Maz could be so smitten by the man. He was the swankiest of all the swanky gamblers in the casino, with the aura of a magnetic charge. Admirers, particularly female, cozied up to him, blushing whenever he winked at them. He oozed confidence like a Hutt in heat, and even with untold credits on the table, he juggled dice as if the act of rolling them were a mere formality and his fortune guaranteed. 

The Abednedo from the beach cut in front of them. “Yep, those are the shuttle parkers.”

A high voltage zap in Freya’s back stopped her from asking questions. She quickly found herself being arrested by the Canto Bight police and as she was carried away, she caught an offhand glance from the Master Codebreaker. But then the man turned away and cast his dice to the cheers of his audience. 

Rey was working up a sweat and practiced with her staff as she often had on Jakku. She targeted a large, jagged standing stone with each end, ducking, parrying, and jumping, as if she faced a real opponent. Finn sat back on the ground, watching her in amazement but shifted his glance down to see the hilt of the Skywalker lightsaber protruding from Rey’s satchel. He reaches for it, standing up and Rey pauses for a brief rest, her eyes falling on him. 

Flicking the activation button, Finn extended the blade and marveled at its bright blue beam, nearly weightless in his hand. This lightsaber had played a large role in recent galactic history, and here he was holding it as if it was his own just like on Starkiller Base. 

“It’s a good look on you.” She comments, mustering up a smile at the young lad. 

He softly chuckles, twirling it around in his hands to hear it humming reasonably. “You think so?” 

Rey steps up to him, nodding and cautiously, he hands it over to her and takes her staff. “You try.” 

Wielding the saber, she resumed her duel against the standing stone, slashing and blocking an invisible foe’s blade, careful not to strike the rock itself. As Luke taught them, she focused on her breath and opened all her senses. In nudges and tugs, she began to feel the Force guiding her movements, as if she were a dancer swaying to music. 

Passing it back to Finn and taking her staff, he began slashing and blocking, doing outer swings and high low swings. Side sweeps, parrying, and ducking were thrown in as well. The Force was flowing through him and he focused on his intake of the salty air, allowing it to fill his lungs and settle into his body. Everything felt heightened, _alive_. 

“Impressive.” 

Luke’s voice jarred him back to the here and now. The blade sizzled through the air to bite into stone, cleaving the boulder in two. Its upper chunk fell away and tumbled down the mountainside to mash into a wheeled cart at the bottom. The pair of Caretakers who had been pushing the cart slowly gazed up at him in confusion. 

Finn cringed, switching off the lightsaber. He hadn’t meant to do that. 

Luke stood behind them, beckoning them to follow. 

They climbed up the mountain stairs, returning to the meditation ledge. He led Rey and Finn through the mouth of the cave that pulled at them both before and into the Jedi temple. 

The entrance widened into a spacious chamber. They followed Luke to a pool in the middle, circled by a retaining wall. “I’ve shown that you don’t need the Jedi to use the Force,” Luke said. “So why need the Jedi Order?” 

Rey didn’t overthink her reply. “To fight the rising darkness. They kept peace for a thousand generations.” Her reflection stared back at her in the glassy pool, while Luke’s held a frown. “And I can tell from your look that every word I just said was wrong.” 

Luke’s tone turned grim. “Lesson two. Now that they’re extinct, the Jedi are romanticized, deified like gods. But if you strip away the myth and look at their deeds, the legacy of the Jedi is failure, hypocrisy, hubris.” 

“That’s not true.” Rey protested. On Jakku, she had studied the old tales, even paid hefty portions of food to traders to hear any story of the Jedi they knew. Some of the Jedi might have been liars and hypocrites, but they could not be deemed failures if they had protected the galaxy for as long as they had. 

Luke grew more somber as he spoke. “At the height of their powers they allowed Darth Sidious to rise, create the Empire, and wipe them out. It was a Jedi Master who was responsible for the training and creation of Darth Vader.”

“But you saved him.” Finn countered. “You believed that he wasn’t gone.” 

“And I became a legend,” Luke said with a sigh. “For many years, there was balance and then I saw Ben, my nephew, with that mighty Skywalker blood. And in my hubris, I thought I could train him, I could pass on my strengths. Han was . . . Han about it. He would’ve preferred his son to learn how to use a blaster rather than a lightsaber. But Leia trusted me with her son. I took him, and a dozen students, and began a training temple. By the time I realized I was no match for the darkness rising in him, it was too late.” 

“What happened?” Rey quietly asked. Han told her and Finn vaguely before, but this was different. There was something more and they felt it within the Force. 

Luke looked into the cavern’s shadows. Some moments passed before he spoke. “One night I came to him in his sleeping quarters, to see if I could resolve the matter.” His voice strained and Finn furrowed his brows. “He woke and saw me standing there, and then . . . the darkness exploded within him. He called on the Force to bring down the ceiling on me. I was incapacitated and it was a long time before I dragged myself out of the rubble. He must’ve thought I was dead.”

Something about the story was rubbing Finn the wrong way but Rey was too engrossed in the story that he decided against speaking up, allowing Luke to finish as he turned back to the clear and still waters of the pool. 

“When I came to, the temple was burning. He had vanished with a handful of my students. And slaughtered the rest.”

His story triggered Rey’s memory. She recalled the vision she had on Takodana of Luke, cowled in a black cloak, kneeling and touching R2-D2 with his artificial hand. A structure burned in the background. It must have been the temple that Luke had built. 

Luke let out a heavy breath. “Leia blamed Snoke but it was me. I failed. Because I was Luke Skywalker. Jedi Master. A legend.”

Rey could feel the anguish of his soul, mired in self doubt. “You didn’t fail Kylo. He failed you.” She fixed her gaze on him. “Finn won’t. And I won’t.” 

On the bridge of the Supremacy, Nova watched out the viewport, seeing the Resistance fleet still moving while one of their ships slowed down and fell behind. Peavey speaks up to Armitage from behind her, a holoscan of the fleet on display before their eyes. “The main cruiser’s still keeping beyond range. But their medical frigate is out of fuel and its shields are down.” 

“The beginning of their end.” Hux muses. “Destroy it.” 

Nova peered over her shoulder at the both of them, seeing the technicians getting to work and she focused back out of the viewport. She eyed the vessel, pressing her hand to the glass and closed her eyes, focusing hard with the Force to try and place herself inside of the hospital frigate Anodyne. 

Four shots fired at the Anodyne, it exploded into fire and the man inside was spending his last moments calling to the Resistance cruiser, to speak with Admiral Holdo. “The last of our crew has been evacuated and heading your way. It’s been an honor, admiral. Godspeed, Rebels!” He shouts before the flames take him and the rest of the ship. 

Nova shoots her eyes open, backing away from the window, feeling sick from feeling the man’s fear and excuses herself to head to her quarters. She felt as if she needed to wash off what she just witnessed, what she experienced, and maybe to even cry. She never wanted this life; to be on the inherently bad side of the war. She never wanted to hurt her sister, to watch innocent people die and get hurt. It wasn’t right, it shouldn’t be acceptable but at last, the Resistance only had six hours of fuel reserves and still continuing on course, the First Order was gaining, and it left stars in a raging war. 

She pauses in the corridor, lifting her head and feels a familiar person from far out. The Resistance pilot Poe Dameron, on the Raddus. He was eyeing the frigate’s falling ship, wondering where Freya and Rose were. 

Rose grabbed the bars of the jail cell where the Canto Bight police had unceremoniously dumped her and Freya. “This is a big mistake. We didn’t do anything!” 

The man standing guard rolled his eyes. “You landed a shuttle on a public beach.” 

“Yeah, it was a _public_ beach,” Freya retorts. “We’re the public. No crime done here.” 

“Cute.” He shoots her a sarcastic stare and heads off down the hall, leaving them alone. 

Rose withdrew from the bars, pacing and checked her holowatch which had readings of the Raddus’s status. “Freya, the fleet is running on fumes. Without a codebreaker to break us onto Snoke’s Star Destroyer . . . What do we do?” 

“I don’t know.” Freya replied honestly. “Unless you got a thief in your pocket, our plan is shot.” 

A hoarse voice up from within the room. “Uh, I can do it.” 

“What?” Rose narrowed her eyes. 

The was big, and from one of its dark corners, a stranger rose from a squeaky bunk. He was middle aged and human, though he might’ve also passed for one of the gigantic rats Rose had seen on the match to the jailhouse. He wore a shabby leather duster over raggedy clothes and scratched himself all over rather rudely. His boots were tied together by the laces, allowing him to hang them over his beck. “S-s-sorry, couldn’t help but overhear all the stuff that you were saying really loudly while I was trying to sleep. Codebreaker? Thief? I can do it.” 

“We’re not talking about picking pockets.” Freya commented. 

Their cellmate chuckled to himself. “Yeah. D-D-Don’t let the wrapper fool you, sweets. Me and First Order codeage go way back. And if the price is right, I can break you into old man S-S-Snoke’s boudoir.” 

“We’re good.” Rose nods. 

The man shrugged, as if it was their loss. “Ha-tuk-ga.”

Freya instantly looked at him, examining how he shuffled to the lock and tinkered with it. After a tap, the door opened and he walked out like there was nothing to it. 

Rose looked at Freya, astonished. “Did he just . . .”

“Yeah.” 

Hurrying through the door, they couldn’t see where the thief had gone, so they turned and ran down the corridor. Glowrodes shone ahead and behind, getting nearer every second. The guards were closing in on them. 

Rose’s boot clanged on something metallic. An iron grill was set in the floor. She and Freya managed to wrench it loose. A great stink wafted out of the hole, so awful she had to cover her nose and mouth. But they were out of options. Either they went down there or they got caught. And if they got caught, they’d be thrown somewhere far worse than the city sewer. 

She seized the top rung of the ladder and hastened down into the gloom. Before descending behind her, Freya tried to drag the heavy grill back in space. It wouldn’t move no matter how hard she heaved, so she left the hole uncovered and scrambled down the ladder. 

At first they argued about what direction to take, until echoes above them forced them to choose. Rather than follow the sewage down to its drainage point like how Rose opted, they headed up the tunnel’s slight slope. 

“This brings back foul memories.” Freya said, splashing through the muck. “Spent a training cycle cleaning the waste system on Starkiller Base. That’s how the First Order made us into Troopers. Either you learn how to fight or you’re scrubbing filth the rest of your short life.” 

The farther they went, the nastier the stench grew, and soon Rose felt she might pass out. She was on the verge of doing so when they finally came across another ladder. She shimmied up the rungs after Freya, delighted to leave the sewer—except that the next place they climbed into didn’t smell any better. 

They emerged in the racetrack stables, where magnificent fathiers were held in dingy stalls. One of the animals thrust its muzzle through the boards to sniff them. It still wore its saddle from the night’s race. 

Ignoring the stink, Rose stepped up to it, wanting to pet it. She stopped when she saw a haggard, half starved stable boy staring back at her. He dropped the broom he was using to clean the stall and reached for an alarm on the wall. 

“No, no, no!” Freya shouts.

“We’re with the Resistance!” Rose said. As proof of where her loyalties lay, she flickered the catch on her ring. It slide open to reveal the starbird insignia of the old Rebellion Alliance. 

The boy’s hand dropped away from the alarm button. Slowly, he smiled and she smiled back. A commotion outside abbreviated a more formal introduction. The guards were on their tail. 

The stable boy opened the pen and gave the fathier a slap on its rump. The beast lowered its hind legs to the ground. Rose mounted first, then Freya. Another tap on its ear and the fathier was up, quickening toward a pair of doors that opened to the racetrack. 

The barn doors opened ahead of them, right as they heard a loud crash behind them. The Canto Bight police breached the stable and rushed inside. “There they are!” 

Grinning at Rose, the boy keyed a panel. Every stall in the stable opened. The captive fathiers sprinted for their freedom, blocking the cops from Rose and Freya. 

Rose and Freya’s fathier shot out onto the racetrack. She held its neck, and Freya clutched her waist. The creature had accelerated so quickly that a fall off its back would result in a snapped neck, a broken spine, or being trampled by the herd following close behind. 

Police speeders whooshed above them, lighting up the night sky. The speeders were designed to maneuver through the confines of a city, and their operators sat in harnesses rigged to a control board and four horizontal stabilizers that assisted in balance. Guns on the speeders’ central vanes took aim. 

But the fathier Rose and Freya rose was no simple-minded beast. Aware of the danger, it snuffed and bolted off the racetrack, through the window wall of the casino. 

Rose covered her face as glass shattered around her. The fathier burst through the cocktail lounge, smashing into the bar and leading the herd in a stampede around the casino. Gaming tables were given the hoof. Jubilee wheels went flying off their spinners. Credits spewed out of toppled lugjack machines. The rich and famous fled for their lives. 

The fathier carried them through another window out to the front of the casino. Valets scattered as the herd went on a mad dash into the city center, toppling luxury landspeeders, cafe chairs, and anything else that stood in their way. The police resumed their chase from above, but their spotlights and repulsorjets couldn’t keep up with the beasts. 

The herd veered down an alley, then raced along the rooftops of a lower level of the city. Their hooves pulverized a sunroof and the entire herd dropped into a steamy sauna occupied by an assortment of species, some toweled, some not, all sweating. After a brief scramble, the fathiers righted themselves and surged out of the building, losing little momentum as they pounded the pavement of the streets. 

A breath before imminent collision, the lead fathier leapt over the wall and the herd followed suit. They landed on the beach and galloped along the moonlit ocean, kicking up sand. Energy beams lanced out from the pursuing speeders. One struck a fathier. It skidded and fell, but the stampede didn’t stop, going even faster. 

The beach terminated in a bluff. Ad with the wall, the herd ran toward it, but it was much too high to hurdle. Instead, their hooves bit into the ground and they clambered up the side of the bluff. Rose clutched the fathier’s neck tightly as she could while Freya nearly squeezed all the breath in her lungs. 

Coming to a ledge, the fathiers continued their run in single file, rounding the bluff. But the climb had slowed them, allowing the police speeders to catch up. As she had seen heroines do in holofilms, Rose pulled the fathier’s soft mane to turn it to the right. It obeyed, rushing up a steep and rocky path to emerge in a meadow with the herd behind it. 

Grasslands were the fathier’s natural terrain, and on it the creatures quickly outdistanced the police. Rose clicked her tongue and yanked the mane again, trusting that the jockeys on Cantonica used the same gestures as they did on Otomok. 

They did. While the rest of the herd veered left, Rose and Freya’s mount slewed to the right. As Rose had hoped, the spotlights of the police speeders stayed on them and not the other fathiers. 

“They’re letting the herd go!” Rose shouted. “Now if we can just—”

Freya screamed at the top of her lungs. “ _Cliff!_ ”

The fathier halted in a spray of dirt, casting them off. Rose thumped into the ground, saved from broken bones by the cushy grass. When she and Freya got back on their feet, they found themselves standing on the edge of a vast ravine, the ocean swirling hundreds of meters below. 

The police speeders neared, their headlamps getting brighter. “Well, it was worth it to tear up the town.” Freya softly grins. “To hit them where it hurts.”

Rose knew Freya was just trying to put a good face on a terrible situation and she loved her for that, but right then her only concern was for the fathier that had taken them here. 

She unharnessed the saddle from its back. “Thank you.” She gave the loyal breast a gentle smack and it galloped off to rejoin its herd. “Now it’s worth it.” 

Something loud whirred behind them. They turned, seeing a ship rising from the ravine. It was a trim star yacht, sporting twin speedvanes on the prow, the kind of craft one only saw in racing mags, a rich person’s dream. It could only be owned by—

“The Master Codebreaker?” A hatch popped open on its hull and an astromech dome peeped out. 

“Buddy!” Freya shouts excitedly. “Are you flying that thing?!”

Their former cellmate with the cap came up behind BB-8. “N-N-Need a lift? Say the magic words.” 

Freya and Rose both exchange a glance before saying, “You’re hired.” 

The man lowered the ramp and they boarded. Before the hatch fully closed, the yacht had rocketed past the cops to an altitude airspeeders could reach. The stars. 

Out of the hot shower, Nova wrapped a white towel around her naked body and stepped over to the sink and grabbed her comb. She began gently brushing her ends, making sure they wouldn’t get knotted and exhaled softly. Peering down at her bare arms, she eyes all the healed scars and wounds, frowning and adverts her eyes quickly before turning on her heel to enter her bedroom. 

Instead of Nova exiting the bathroom to her room, she appeared somewhere else and it started her for a moment. She wasn’t in her quarters but it looked like it with a few touch ups here and there. A noise sounds and she creeps slowly, peering around the corner and seeing Kylo standing shirtless, his torso as pale as bleached bone and glistening with water droplets. Her eyes directly go to his scars that he received in the forest by Finn and Rey. The gnarly scar that ran from his chest, up his collarbone, neck, and cheek. His left shoulder having a crater. The blue and purple bruise from where Chewbacca shot him—all of it. 

“Nova,” his voice is low, husked and it sent a chill down her spine. She’d never seen him this exposed and she momentarily looked away in embarrassment, hiding her scarred arms away from him. 

“Sorry, I, uh . . .” She licks her lips, trying to explain what had happened but she was at a loss for words. “I don’t know how . . .” 

He takes one step close to her. “There’s nothing for you to apologize for. You don’t have control over this, whatever it is.” 

So he did understand, she thought. She didn’t mean to intrude on his private moment, feeling the heat swell up in her cheeks. Slowly, she realizes what he had said: _you don’t have control over this_.

“Do you?” She returns his stare, interested in his answer. Did he have control over these sudden Force connections? 

These talks that tore through space were so mesmerizing but stressful because with every single one, it urged Kylo to want to hold her but he couldn’t. And that was, if not, the most painful thing he’s ever experienced in his years of living; to care for something that you couldn’t have. 

“Sometimes I just think about you and you show up. Mostly after I feel you being perturbed. Like right now.” He admits, not shying away from the fact and it made Nova’s heart speed up. Kylo takes another step, drawing nearer and she swears that she could actually feel his hot breath fanning over her. “You want to leave . . . Don’t you?”

Holding his intense gaze, Nova exhales smally as if she would breathe any louder it’d scare him off. But no, Kylo Ren wasn’t one to hide away from something like this—from confronting something head on. He was a man who wanted answers and he’d do whatever to gain them by any means but with Nova, he’d take his time. She knew this, witnessed it first hand and he was doing it right now. Waiting, tugging on their connection to pull her closer mentally so he could feel her being there with him. 

“I don’t belong here.” She quietly responds, thinking about the other places that she could go. Jakku was the only thing she had close to a place of belonging but that was the last place she’d want to go and she believed that a life with Rey couldn’t work out since she had sided and lived with the First Order, after all they’ve done to the Republic and Resistance. Ultimately, that left her with a simple statement. “I don’t belong anywhere.” 

Kylo’s hazel eyes shift back and forth between hers, drowning in them effortlessly and he swallows harshly. He saw the eyes of a frightened girl. He felt her loneliness, her pain, matching his own and her craving for belonging, something he always wanted for himself. He felt compassion, the need to protect, the need to show kindness that nobody has shown him before. That was the moment when he recognized that she was a part of himself.


	15. A Chance

Reaching a large hole in the ground that had dark moss around the edge of it, Finn exhales and pauses before it. “This is it. What I saw in my vision.” 

The moonlight shined down on it, making it look as if it were a magical portal into black oblivion. Rey steps forwards, bending down and touching the spongy and moist moss. It offered no clues as to what lay below. 

“The Kyber is down there?” Around her, she realized that little else thrived on the plane of rock that emerged from the grassy slopes of Ahch-To and ended in a low cliff only a few meters from the sea. “Looks to be a dark place for such—”

Her foot slipped. She couldn’t right her balance. The moss under her split and she fell, into the darkness, into the hole. 

She yelled out, landing with a splash in a pool of water. She was struggling to swim, holding her breath and peering all around her. She saw a skull and bones of some water creature and got spooked, trying to surface but a strong current was holding her down. 

From above, a massive shadow plunged into the water with her and swam for her. It was Finn. His arms wrapped around her small waist, guiding her up to the surface where she gasped for air. 

He paddled her to an outcropping stone and pushed her out before heaving himself onto the ledge. “You okay?” 

Rey coughs, nodding. “Swimming lessons hadn’t been a priority on Jakku.” 

Finn lightly chuckles. “Good thing they were in the First Order.” 

They were in a cavern, probably beneath the ocean Finn theorized before he heard a whisper. Turning his head, something shiny caught his eye and he stood, trekking over in his soaked clothes. Stretching out his hand, he grabbed a raw crystal from the one wall and felt how warm his palm was as he held onto it. It was small in size, about an inch but like how Luke said, it was the most important piece of a lightsaber. 

“Rey, I found it.” He smiles and turns, taking a few steps to where she stood still. “I found . . .” 

His words die out once he sees her dripping wet, hair undone from the plunge, and staring at her double. 

It took him a moment to realize her double was but a reflection. The obsidian in the cavern wall, scoured smooth by centuries of erosion, acting like a curved mirror. On its glassy surface, he could see not only a single image of Rey but infinite reflection funneling to a point in the center. 

Rey turned her head, a moment later the reflections also turned their heads, as if following her lead. She snapped her fingers, and the reflections did the same, one after the other. Every movement she made was exactly reproduced, though slightly delayed. Inside the mirror, in all her images, Rey appeared to be the same as her physical self. It was as if she was made of an uncountable number of pieces, yet was also a singular whole. 

Perhaps that was what Luke had meant when he had spoken about the Force. It was like a mirror, reflecting outward and inward, connecting everything with itself in the paradox of life. 

But there was something else here. Somewhere in that chain of reflections lay the secret of her past, the secret of her and Nova’s parents. Now she had to look inside herself to pull it out. 

“Let me see them,” she whispers. “My parents, please.” 

She extended a hand to the dark glass. A fog spread across the surface, showing two darken silhouettes, belonging to a man and a woman, stepping before her. Her breathing hitches and the clouded surface dissipates to present the faces of her parents. Her mother wore her brown hair into three buns like how Rey had ever since she was little, had hazel green eyes, and a beautiful smile. Her father had short dirty blond hair, icy blue eyes, and a stubble beard. 

They were ordinary people, a husband and wife, junk traders who had left their children and then died in a pauper’s grave in the Jakku’s desert.

Rey then remembered Maz Katana’s words back on Takodana: _You already know the truth. Whomever you’re waiting for on Jakku, they’re never coming back. But, there’s someone who still could. With your help._ Back then, she had no idea who Maz was referring to but now she did. She was talking about Nova.

At the thought of her, Nova appears but stands in the very back behind their parents and Rey focused on her ghostly image. An outline man then steps up next to her, no features available but he gives off an impression as he loops his arm around Nova’s shoulder and it makes goosebumps arrive on Rey’s exposed flesh. Their mother then turns, giving a smile back to her sister and with the imagery, the distance between her family, and an undeniable feeling of the mystery man that washed over her through the Force, she understood what it was telling her. 

Nova and Rey were uterine sisters who did not share the same father. 

The hand of her mother’s followed Rey’s physical hand, their fingers neared yet could never completely touch, stymied by stone. She gave a smile to her, saying her name which sounded angelic and Rey felt the tears swelling up in her eyes as they vanished. 

Rey dropped her hand. The thousand other reflections returned to haunt the obsidian, dropping their hands at their sides as she did. She closed her eyes and though she couldn’t see them, she imagined the other reflections did the same. 

“Rey,” Finn softly speaks and steps up next to her. He wasn’t able to see what she had sought and figured out herself. The only thing he saw was her many, many reflections but knew there was more. He sensed her sadness and hurt, but revelation. 

“It showed me what I wanted to see.” 

“Your parents?” 

She opens her eyes, nodding and stares directly back into the obsidian, focusing on Finn’s reflection that now appeared a thousand times in a direct single file line. “They died on Jakku.” She admits loudly, something she always knew in the back of her mind but was scared that it was true. 

Finn frowns, taking her hand into his. “I’m sorry, Rey. Is there anything I can do?” It was an out-of-the-blue question but he just hated seeing her so sad, so broken. 

“You’re here.” She looks at him, her expression in adoration even as a tear slips down her cheek. “That’s enough.” He smiled gently, softly, giving her hand a tender squeeze.

Looking at his reflection now, he pauses, thinking back to all he had learned about Kylo Ren from Luke, from Han, and Leia. Even from General Armitage Hux. Finn overheard Han and Leia whenever they spoke at the Resistance Base on D’Qar, how she believed that there was still light in him. He witnessed how Han spoke with him on Starkiller Base, saying how Snoke was just using him for his power and he showed hesitation, sympathy. 

He furrows his brow, thinking intently as he stares at his reflections. Finn was making connections between him and Kylo, and he actually ended up feeling bad for the older boy.

“Finn?” Rey sees his confliction, and feels it wafting off in the Force. 

“If a Stormtrooper can be manipulated,” Finn begins, “so can others on the dark side.” 

Ahch-To had two suns but one moon. That night it hung giant and full in the sky, its eerie light shimmering in the rain on the temple’s mountain ledge, where Luke stood. He placed his hands on the meditation stone on which Rey and Finn had set a few hours before. He could still feel them there, specks and motes of their presence drifting in the currents of the past. But he wasn’t concerned with them at the moment. 

Luke shut his eyes and breathed. The patter of raindrops and sloshing of the tides soothed him as he let the Force take him where he needed to go. 

His mind’s eye opened to see Leia, lying on a bed on a star cruiser, hooked up to medical devices. She was near death, her life clinging to the Force. His touch stirred her awake. 

“Luke?” 

Her presence in the Force brightened. The medical readouts showed increased signs of activity. Luke strained to hold the connection. He had not communicated with his sister for a long time, and they had grown apart, not only as siblings, but also in the Force. 

“Leia,” he said, and bestowed to her what strength of his he had before the connection faded for good. 

When he opened his eyes, he saw with a new clarity. It wasn’t the galaxy that needed him. It was his sister. She was hurt. 

He hurried down into the village, his robes drenched by the storm. “Rey, you were right.” He said loudly. “Rey! Finn!” 

The two showed up and he sighed with relief, about to speak once more but felt their annoyance that rolled off them in waves. Luke’s eyes peer down, seeing that Finn found the Kyber that had called to him in his vision. He was going to congratulate the boy for finding it, but he had spoken first with mastery. 

“What aren’t you telling us about Kylo Ren?” 

“I told you everything. Darkness was rising in him, and I went to confront him about it but—” 

“No,” Finn instantly dismisses Luke. “Something like that doesn’t just happen, it has to be caused by something.” He was thinking like a Stormtrooper now, noting that in order to learn in the First Order, you either get with the program or get stuck with cleaning filth. And nobody liked being a janitor. So you learn how to use a blaster and batons, and go on missions to follow the captain of your squadron or get terminated. 

If Ben Solo had darkness in him but hadn’t acted on it right up until Luke tried to speak with him, then it was something that his uncle had done to push him in that direction. 

“Did you create Kylo Ren?” Finn bluntly asked. 

“Leave this island. _Now_.” Luke began to walk away as thunder rumbled the sky. He would find another way to help Leia. The boy had the gall to even speak those words. 

“Stop.” Rey demands. “Tell us the truth!” 

But Luke didn’t. He believed that the girl and boy couldn’t be—

He fell, the back of his skull ringing in agony from where Rey had struck him from behind. Rolling in the mud, he looked up, his head throbbing. She hovered over him, wielding her staff. 

“Did you do it? Did you create Kylo Ren?” She venomously questions. 

Luke staved off the pounding pain and staggered back to his feet. He started to shuffle away. She swung again. 

This time he was ready. Calling on the Force, he snapped a lightning rod off the roof of a hut and brought it flying into his hand. He used it to parry Rey’s assault, then pushed her off her feet. She bounded up, undeterred, whirling her staff for another blow. Their weapons clanged against each other, battering out a rhythm with every strike. Her aggressiveness surprised him, as did her talent, and she drove him backward. But retreat did not signal defeat. 

Blocking her attacks, Luke levered the other end of his rot to swing back at her like a pendulum. Her staff flew from her grip. She was weaponless, but not for long. 

She summoned the Skywalker lightsaber from her satchel, activated it, and slashed. The blue blade sliced through the lightning rod and Luke tumbled to the ground, using the Force to cushion his fall. 

She held the lightsaber over him while rain sizzled against its energy beam but didn’t strike. She deactivates it as Finn steps up next to her, more thunder sounding off as lightning lit up the sky. “Tell us the truth.”

Luke wheezed from the fight. He knew he couldn’t hold on to the past any longer. And he wasn’t Obi-Wan. He couldn’t tell things from a ‘certain point of view’ as his first Jedi teacher had excused the half truths he had told about Luke’s father. Luke couldn’t lie. 

“I saw darkness,” Luke said. His fixed his thoughts on the memory that never went away, that fateful moment when he had entered Ben’s quarters. 

He remembered holding his hand over his sleeping nephew, then closing his eyes as he searched Ben’s mind. 

“I had sensed it building in him. I had seen it in moments during his training. But then I looked inside, and it was beyond what I ever imagined.”

Horrible thoughts that weren’t his own bubbled up like splattering lava. Ben screamed, Ben shrieked, Ben killed, Ben changed. A blue lightsaber replaced by a crackling red one. Still, Luke kept himself rooted in the memory, as much as it caused him pain. 

“Snoke had already turned his heart. He would bring destruction and pain and death and the end of everything I loved because of what he would become. And for the briefest moment of pure instinct, I thought I could stop it.” 

In that memory, he unbuckled his lightsaber from his belt and activated it but stared down at the green beam. For an instant, he considered the possibility. Ben was completely vulnerable on his pallet. 

“It passed like a fleeting shadow. And I was left with shame, and with consequence.” 

Ben woke to find Luke clutching his lightsaber hilt. Recognition of the deed Luke had contemplated poisoned his stare. 

“And the last thing I saw were the eyes of a frightened boy whose master had failed him.” 

Ben called on his own saber, igniting it in an attack. Luke raised his in defense, and the two swords crackled and clashed. 

_Ben, no!_ He had shouted. 

There was nothing Luke could say or do that would ever restore his nephew’s trust in him. The young man lifted a hand and the ceiling collapsed on his uncle in a pile of rubble. 

Luke pulled away from the memory, finding himself back on Ahch-To, with Finn kneeling beside him in the mud. “You failed him by thinking his choice was made. It wasn’t. I would know. I used to be a Stormtrooper but I ran away from the Order, I wouldn’t kill for them even after I was raised from birth to do so at their command.” He explained. “I was like him, and I’ve changed. You didn’t give him the opportunity to grow. To prove that he can change.” 

“I killed Ben Solo that night, if not in body, then in spirit. Now there is only Kylo Ren, and he’s stronger than you know.” He looked up, beseeching the both of them to listen to him. 

“There’s conflict in him.” Rey begins. “Leia—she told me that she felt the light inside of him because of my sister. I’ve seen it. Finn and I, we _both_ have.” A slight pause, an idea stirring in her mind. “If Nova can change him from the dark side, that could shift the tide. This could be how we win.” 

Luke shakes his head. “This isn’t going to go the way you think.” 

Finn rose and Rey held the lightsaber to him, as she had when she’d first approached him on the cliff. He had admired their persistence, but he knew that they wouldn’t be enough. No one was ever enough, it seemed, to dispel the darkness. Luke brought his father back to the light, but Darth Vader’s evil returned to possess Luke’s own nephew. The cycle of light and darkness was inevitable, just as the moon of Ahch-To would overtake the suns. 

He refused the lightsaber. 

“Then we give Kylo a chance.” Finn says. Him and her then stalked away from him, Rey picking up her staff and catchel, heading in the direction of the Falcon. 

Luke got up, shaking off the mud and pain. This time, it was him who followed them, down the mountainside. If they heard him, they didn’t turn in acknowledgement. 

Luke haltered at the bottom of the staircase. Chewbacca was visible in the Falcon’s cockpit. He saw Luke and waved for him to come aboard. Luke shook his head. He worried that the Wookie might run out and try to wrangle him inside the ship but Chewbacca just bared his fangs and looked away from Luke, busying himself with the controls from his co-pilot’s seat. 

The Falcon thrummed, preparing for takeoff. Water ran down its side in rivulets. A curious R2-D2 sheltered underneath the ship, waiting for Rey and Finn at the ramp. Rey ignored his queries and strode up into the freighter without a word, he rolled after. Some wayward porgs toddled after Finn.

Luke wanted to pull them back, but he knew that was pointless. Had he not done the same as them when he had cut short his Jedi training on Dagobah and gone off to save his friends? 

As the hatch closed, he watched the Millennium Falcon vanish into the clouds. Rain trickled from his beard, his brow, and even his eyes. Though he had escaped the rubble of the temple he had built, its weight remained. 

Ninka was obliterated by the Mega Destroyer’s cannons and Poe reached a quick and necessary conclusion. He had to save the Resistance from itself. 

He stepped up his pace to the cruiser’s secondary bridge. Flares lit the corridor, since most power for unessential systems had been redirected to the engines. The Raddus was burning through its last reserves of fuel, and once the tanks were empty, it would slow down and the First Order armada would destroy the cruiser just as it had the two other ships. Vice Admiral Holdo’s plan, if she even had a plan, wasn’t working. 

Commander D’Acy blocked Poe at the doorway. “The admiral’s banned you from the bridge. Let’s not have a scene.” 

“No, let’s.” Poe pushed her onto the bridge. “Holdo!” 

Holdo looked up from a monitor. “Flyboy.”

Poe did not salute. “Cut it, lady. We had a fleet, now we’re down to one ship, and you’ve told us nothing! Tell us that we have a plan! That’s there’s hope!” 

Holdo stood tall. “When I served under Leia, she would say, hope is like the sun. If you only believe in it when you can see it—”

“You’ll never make it through the night.” Poe finished. General Organa had offered him the same proverb when he had joined the Resistance. 

“Yes.” She nods.

An image of an ovoid loadlifter ship appeared on a screen near him, and Poe realized what she had in mind. “You’re fueling up the transports? All of them?” 

Holdo neither confirmed nor denied. 

“We’re abandoning ship? That’s what you’ve got? That’s what you’ve brought us to?” Poe stares at her and in a fit, hits a chair down to the floor. “Coward! Those transports are unshielded, unarmed. We abandon this cruiser, we’re done. We don’t stand a chance.” 

“Captain—”

Poe didn’t let her talk. “You are not just a coward, you are a traitor.” 

“Get this man off my bridge.” Holdo told the security officers. 

The officers pulled Poe out the door. He didn’t put up a sight. In the corridor, he held up his hands and told the security officers he would go with them peacefully. Out of respect, they didn’t cuff him, and he walked with them to the hangar. Some transports had a brig for prisoners and he’d probably spend the last minutes of his life in a cell. 

As they turned a corner, Lieutenant Connix and a group of six starfighter pilots, one of them Poe’s squadron mate C’ai Threnalli, stepped out before them. “We’ll take Dameron from here,” Connix said. 

The security officers backed away. No blasters were pulled. Connix and her contingent directed Poe into a maintenance room, where he was handed a comlink. 

“What’s going on?” Poe asked. 

A female voice crackled over the comlink. “Captain Pretty Boy,” 

It took Poe a second to identify the speaker. “Freya?” 

“Hold on.” The volume of her voice lowered, as if she was turning her head. “Rose, I got through to the fleet.” 

Moments later, Rose spoke over the comm. “We’re on our way back, Captain Dameron.” 

“Holdo’s loading the crew into shuttles. She’s going to abandon ship,” Poe remarks. “Where are you?” 

“We’re on our way back to the fleet. We’re close.” 

“Did you find the Master Codebreaker?” Poe asks. 

“We found, uh, _a_ codebreaker,” Freya states without much confidence. “But I promise that we can shut the tracker down. We just need more time.” 

Poe looked at Threnalli, Connix, and the others. They were on his side, willing to do whatever was necessary to save the Resistance. 

“Alright. Hurry.” 

Seated in the pilot’s chair of the space yacht Libertine, Freya pulled the lightspeed lever to exit hyperspace. Huddled around her were Rose, BB-8, and the fast talking jack-of-all-trades who called himself DJ, after the initials of his captain’s slogan, “Don’t join”. Freya doubted this nickname was anywhere close to his real name, if he still remembered it. But he had rescued them, so she didn’t ask any personal questions. 

She did ask about the yacht, however, and BB-8 revealed that DJ had stolen it. The ball droid beeped that he had met the thief while looking for Freya and Rose in the jail. DJ had been so impressed by how BB-8 had stopped the prison guards by shooting credit chips at them that he told the droid he’d been in the same cell as his friends. The two then went off to the Canto Bight spaceport to obtain a ship and find Freya and Rose. 

Normally, Rose would have ordered that they return the craft but the Libertine’s database indicated the previous owner had trafficked in weapons to profit off the war, so she didn’t feel guilty about putting the ship to better use. 

As the blue streaks of hyperspace resolved into a fleet of First Order Star Destroyers, Rose realized that this probably wasn’t better use. 

Freya centered the ship’s approach trajectory on the Mega Destroyer. “I hope we’re in time.” 

“You can actually do this, right?” Rose glances over her shoulder at DJ. 

“Yeah, about that,” the girls and astromech face him. “Gals, I can do it. But there exists a pre-‘do it’ conversation about price.” 

“Once we’re done, the Resistance will give you whatever you want,” Rose wasn’t sure if that would be the case, or if the Resistance had any credits to dole out. 

DJ wasn’t having any of it. “What’cha got deposit wise?” 

Freya squinted at him. “We’re Resistance fighters in a war and can be captured at any time, what makes you think that we carry precious cargo around for down payment?” 

His gaze strayed to the medallion on Rose’s necklace. “Is that Haysian smelt? _That’s_ something.”

Rose’s hand went to cover her medallion. It was her last link to her sister, not something she could barter away. Freya spoke up for her. “No. You have our word that you’re going to get paid. That should be enough.” 

“Gals, I want to keep helping,” DJ said. “But no something, n-n-no doing.” 

Sizing up the Destroyers in the armada, Rose thought of her sister. Paige would have been upset if Rose held on to the medallion when she might have saved the Resistance. Paige had died for more than a piece of jewelry. 

Rose yanked the medallion off the chain and threw it to the thief. “Do it,” she said. 

Freya turns back, holding her breath while they drifted toward the Supremacy. At any moment they might be blasted into space debris but DJ didn’t seem to be worried. He inserted a tool into the yacht’s controls that he claimed would make the ship invisible from the First Order’s scopes but Freya knew of the stories about overhyped cloaking devices and how none actually worked. She doubted this one would. If cloaking your ship was easy as DJ made it out to be, everybody would own one of these magical gadgets. Yet, Freya didn’t raise a stink when a flight of TIEs zoomed past the Libertine without pause. Maybe DJ’s tool wasn’t as unrealistic as it seemed. 

Freya breathed more easily once the yacht penetrated the Supremacy’s shields. DJ might have not been the Master Codebreaker Maze had recommended, but he was no slouch. He hacked into the Mega Destroyer’s deflector shield timer and programmed a gap in the coverage so they could slip through it. She glided the Libertine into the Supremacy’s exhaust nozzle and docked against a maintenance hatch, all without seeming to attract the First Order’s notice. 

The conspirators waylaid Vice Admiral Holdo in the hangar. She was clearly surprised that Poe wasn’t in custody, and he didn’t waste the moment. He informed her that Freya and Rose were trying to disable the Supremacy’s hyperspace tracker. 

“They’re doing what?” 

“They are trying to save us.” Poe states. “This is our best chance for escape. You have to five Freya and Rose all the time you can.” 

Holdo grew livid. “You have bet the survival of the Resistance on bad odds and put us all at risk. There’s no time now. We have to get clear of the cruiser. Load the transports!” 

The hangar doors opened in preparation for launch. C’ai Threnalli glanced at Poe, giving him the signal. 

“Yeah, I was afraid you’d say that.” He didn’t want to do what he was about to, but what choice did he have? He drew his blaster and turned it on the vice admiral as did Threnalli, Connix, and the rest of the group. “Vice Admiral Holdo, I’m reliving you of your command for the survival of this ship, its crew, and the Resistance.”

“I hope you understand what you’re doing.” 

Poe turned to Threnalli. “I’m going to the bridge. If they move, stun ‘em.” 

Disembarking from the yacht, BB-8 took point and rolled down the repair shaft, mapping and scanning the area. Freya crawled after the droid with Rose and DJ, though Rose soon halted before a ventilation duct that was covered in lint. She started to pry loose the grill. “Our way in.” 

Once the grill was freed, they wormed through and out into a hot room that smelled of soap. Officers uniforms advanced on a conveyor belt, where a droid with iron-hot limbs steam pressed the clothes into neatly folded packets. 

“Dressing the part,” Freya smiles to Rose. “I like your thinking. Remember to tuck in your shirts. The First Order doesn’t tolerate wrinkles.” 

They took clothing packets in their sizes and changed behind the cleaning tubs. Freya’s uniform was starch stiff and itched. The cap gave her a headache and the belt squeezed her guts. Why did the First Order have a knack for making things uncomfortable? 

For BB-8’s disguise, Freya got a black waste bucket and turned it over on top of the astromech. If no one looked too close, BB-8 could be mistaken for a mouse droid. 

To reach the engineering section where Rose could disable the tracker, they had to board a turbolift at the other end of an operations center. So they held their chins high and strode through a warren of computer consoles, holographic displays, and targeting systems. First Order officers patrolled the stations, barking commands at analysts. One lieutenant put a datapad in front of Rose. “Captain, could you okay this?” 

She gave the datapad a once-over, then snapped “okay” and walked onward with Freya and DJ, as if she were on more important business. BB-8 received more attention from the mouse droids zapping about, uet other than some inquisitive beeps, none sounded an alert. 

As they neared the turbolifts, one of the senior ranking officers cast a curious glance at them. “This isn’t working,” whispered DJ. 

Freya kept her gaze forward. “Almost there.” 

Arriving at the lifts, Rose summoned a car with a button. The doors opened and they all went inside to join half a dozen Stormtroopers. The senior officer began to hurry toward them as Rose was having trouble with the controls, making two Stormtroopers look at each other. Sweat pooled under Freya’s tight collar. Was this how everything was going to end? The officer had gotten within a few steps when the lift doors finally shut and the car moved. 

Levels whooshed past the windows and no one spoke, but a Trooper turned his helmet toward Freya and stared at her. She stiffened, focusing forwards and begged for the doors to open. 

Rose shot the Trooper a dirty look. “Is there a problem, soldier?” 

“Sorry,” the Trooper said and shook his head. “I know I’m not supposed to initiate contact with officers.” 

“Good then. Don’t.” Rose faced back again and gave an unnoticeable nod to Freya. 

Everyone exited the turbolift. The Troopers marched off in one direction, and Freya, Rose, DJ, and BB-8 went in the other. Only when they had turned down a hallway did they relax. 

Freya led them on a run through a maze of corridors to a locked blast door. “This is it. The tracker’s right behind this door.” 

DJ crouched over the entry console, retrieving Rose’s medallion from his pocket and pressed it into the console. Sparks flew and the whole thing short circuited. 

“Haysian smelt makes the best conductor,” DJ said, tossing the medallion back to Rose. “You’re welcome.” 

“Thank you.” Rose smiles. 

As DJ continued to fiddle with the console, punching buttons while Rose waited beside Freya. “Almost there . . .” 

Poe’s voice crackled over BB-8’s speaker. “BB-8, tell me something good.” 

The droid ejected a comlink, which Freya caught. “Poe, we’re almost there. Have the cruiser prepped for lightspeed.” 

“Yeah, I’m on it.” Poe responses. “You just hurry.” 

“Now or never.” Freya said to DJ. 

The thief looked at them. “Now,” he said, and the blast doors slid open. 

The room beyond was jam packed with astro-navigational systems. A series of circuit breakers was installed on the back all. Flipping those breakers would cut power to the tracker. Their crazy plan was seconds from being a success. 

But it all proved to be little more than a tantalizing glimpse. A squad of Stormtroopers clattered through adjoining doors, led by the senior officer who had spotted them in the operations center. 

A chrome armored Trooper pushed through the ranks. “FY-4201. So good to see you alive.” 

Freya grimaced at the one and only Captain Phasma. 

Nova was sitting criss cross on the floor of the training center in the Supremacy, her eyes closed to meditate and connect herself within the Force. She took slow, even breaths, and straightened out her back. She was trying to find her own inner peace, trying to revisit the memory of her parents taking off from Jakku so she could try to figure out why her father hid himself away. She needed to see him, needed to know why he told her that she didn’t want to know. 

“Doesn’t work like that,” Kylo’s voice creeps into her awareness. 

Letting out an exhausted sigh and opening her eyes, Nova stands and smooths out her black tunic and scarlet sashes. “It happened once.” 

“But you’re searching for it directly,” he informs her. “If you try to search for it, it buries itself deeper. Better just to let it die.” A pause. “Let the past die. Kill it if you have to. That’s the only way to become what you were meant to be.” 

“That’s why Snoke made you do it, didn’t he?” Nova peers over her shoulder, eyeing him from the corner of her eye. “Told you that you needed to kill the light in order to move forward. You didn’t hate your father, you still needed him. Still need your mother, too. He knew that.”

Kylo grows quiet, the air feeling heavier than previously. Maybe it was because the truth of her words made him feel small, or because he was now realizing that Han Solo had been right about Snoke using him. 

Nova fully turns, giving him her undivided attention. “Why Snoke? What made you choose this over the Resistance? Being a Sith then a Jedi?” 

“My mother wanted me to follow my heritage so early on that it was pushed on me. Named me after a man I never met and yet, everyone was waiting on me to follow in his footsteps.” A pause. “When I first met Snoke he told me about my heritage, about Darth Vader, and he didn’t tell me to become him. He told me that I got to decide what I wanted to be, no one else.” Kylo explains with a heavy heart, it makes his chest ache. “Before I knew it, I idolized him for giving me that. For giving me a chance to decide.” 

His memories take off and Nova is able to see them: Leia and Han talking about his toddler tantrums as if he were a monster and not their child. Luke having a moment of thinking about striking him in his sleep to try and stop what he’d become. Then Kylo leaves the burning temple to go and meet Snoke on his planet. How Snoke encouraged him to use the name of Kylo since it was his own childlike creation and a wish fulfillment. His training with the Knights of Ren, Snoke treating him awfully and manipulating him every step of the way that he just took as lessons and teachings. 

“I could never be Jedi, and I realize now, I can never be like my grandfather.” 

Nova takes a moment to respond, her throat clenched. “So _who_ do you want to be?” 

“You’re crying.” Kylo says, watching her eyes swell up and a tear trickled down her cheek. “You already know.” 

Slowly, Nova extended a hand and her fingers stretched outwards. No words in the moment could be spoken correctly but this, this was the next best thing she could think of. She watched as his eyes shifted down, seeing open palm reaching for him. Tentatively, Kylo removes his black glove to expose his big yet slender digits. He moves cautiously as if she were a fragile creature that would scurry away if he’d move too fast. Their fingertips were just centimetres away and the hair raised on the backs of their necks, knowing that the Force was just cooking something up between them.

Before they knew it, the pads of their fingers touched tenderly. Electricity shot through the both of them, the contact of skin on skin completely overwhelming and exhilarating. Static runs through their hands and arms, into their bodies, and clatters around the brain in high voltages. 

Nova was able to see his future within the Force, all of it solid and clear. As for Kylo, he was able to see her past as if he had lived through it himself. 

Finn and Rey tried to hide their apprehension from Chewbacca and R2-D2 as they gathered in the Falcon’s escape pod bay. That proved to be hard when they saw the pods resembled funeral caskets. They could be sentencing themselves to death. Were they delusional to be doing this? Maybe. But it was a chance to take. 

“As soon as we launch, you jump back out of range and stay there until you get my signal,” Rey told Chewie.

The Wookie yowled, disapproving of their plan. But she was grateful he didn’t try to stop them. Finn helped her into the pod then got in himself, conforming his body to the interior of the pod, then raised a thumb. Chewbacca closed the hatch. 

The Wookie shambled off to the cockpit, but R2-D2 stayed in the bay. Through the pod’s window, Finn saw his big red photorecptor focused on them. He grinned a goodbye. 

When the Falcon exited hyperspace, the pod was jettisoned toward the First Order armada and its Mega Destroyer. The Falcon did not tarry and shot back to lightspeed. 

It was now Finn and Rey all alone against the mighty First Order but unbeknownst to them, Freya, Rose, and BB-8 were there, too.


	16. Hourglass

Poe readied the Raddus for a hyperspace jump, blaster in hand. Minutes before, he had taken complete control of the bridge and sent the crew to the hangar. The only ones who stayed were Connix and General Organa’s assistant, C-3PO. 

Though more anxious than usual, the protocol droid obeyed Poe’s order, having opened up a comm channel with the team on the Mega Destroyer though BB-8. But Freya’s report that they were within reach of the tracker flustered C-3PO. “Sir, I’m almost afraid to ask, but—”

Poe had no time to argue with the droid. “Good instinct, Threepio. Go with that.” As he entered hyperspace coordinates, a screen monitoring the hangar lit up with blaster fire. Holdo and her crew were fighting back, and Poe knew his small group of mutineers holding the hangar wouldn’t last long. 

“Seal that door!” He yelled to Connix. The lieutenant did as commanded, rushing back to a console to assist with astronavigation. 

The golden protocol droid began hustling toward the door access controls and Poe watched him in disbelief. 

“Threepio, where do you think you’re going?”

“It would be quite against my programming to be party to a mutiny.” He says, evidently having computed what was going on. “It is not the correct protocol.”

The edges of the door began to glow and spark. Someone was trying to cut through it. The firefight still blazed on the screen, so Holdo’s troops couldn’t be behind it. Had those loyal to Poe turned against him? 

C-3PO backpedaled from the door, shouting, “Neither is this!”

Poe pounded his fist on the comm button. “Freya?” There was no response. “Freya, are you there?” Where had she gone? 

Then Poe heard cries and protests on the comm. The worst had happened. The First Order’s Troopers had found his friends and taken them prisoner. 

It seemed like Poe would share a similar fate. A section of the bridge door clanked to the floor, melted from the other side. Keeping on hand atop the hyperspace lever, Poe raised his pistol at the intruder. 

Through the smoke, General Organa entered. 

Shocked but overjoyed to see she had recovered, Poe whispers her name as he lowered his weapon. 

The general triggered hers. A stun bolt coursed through Poe’s nerves and he flew back into the wall, blacking out as Connix and C-3PO surrendered peacefully. 

Gurney operators came and collected Poe as the hangar became active once again, the Resistance loading themselves on the transports. Holdo watched as he was carried onto the one, admiring his talent and loyalty even if it did result in revolting her judgment. 

“That one’s a troublemaker.” Holdo slightly smiles. “I like him.” 

Leia nods. “Me too.” She steps up to the ramp, after Poe and the operators. “Now board your transport.” 

Holdo steps up after her old friend. “For the transports to escape, someone has to stay behind and pilot the cruiser.” 

Leia turns, fixing an expression Holdo knew all too well. “Too many losses,” she said quietly. “I can’t do it anymore.”

“Sure you can.” Holdo replied, reassuring her. “You taught me how.” 

Leia thought about it and as much as it hurt, it was the truth. After enduring so much, you learn how to remain strong even when you believe you can’t.

“May the Force—” She began, only to hear her friend saying the same words. 

They stop, breaking into small smiles and chuckles. 

“You go on.” Leia’s eyes become glassy. “I’ve said it enough.” 

“May the Force be with you always.” Holdo tells her, taking her hand into hers and firmly holds it to wish her all of the luck in the galaxy. 

Leia boards, the door shutting behind her as the transports put on their cloaking devices and start their engines. She sits at the window, peering out to Holdo who maintains posture and holds her hands before her in a relaxed state, all alone, on the Raddus. 

Ferrying into the Mega Destroyer’s hangar was easy and proved Finn and Rey’s suspicion when Stormtroopers stood, awaiting their arrival. The hatch had opened in a cloud of vapor and Finn emerged, helping Rey out before they were cuffed and then searched. The one Stormtrooper took the lightsaber from Rey, holding it in their hand. Finn gives a small nod to Rey and she returns one back. The two of them had already formulated their plan: find Nova, ease her into helping them with their scheme, then find Kylo and let him know that it isn’t too late to make things right. Solid idea, but such trickery putting it together in place when you’re held as a prisoner.

Rey had been in this type of situation before so it gave her some confidence as she and Finn were led through the Supremacy. 

She kept on glancing back at Finn as they headed through the corridors and office spaces, the air thick, heavy, and suffocating. From the corner of her eye, she caught sight of a familiar orange and white astromech droid as they paused to wait for the one turbolift. Nudging Finn, Rey motions to BB-8 and they both exchanged curious glances. The astromech snuck out, rolling behind Finn’s legs, silently beeping what had taken place with Freya, Rose, and DJ. Finn felt his heart break in two for the girls, his eyes flicking up at Rey and without a word, she already knew that their plan just got a whole lot more complicated. 

Quick thinking on the draw, Rey makes a break for it, creating a diversion for the Stormtroopers to focus on her. They followed after, shouting at her to halt and with the opening, BB-8 extended his torch arm and cut Finn’s bindings in half. He rubbed his free sore wrists, feeling bad for abandoning Rey to have to deal with part of the plan all by herself but then, she had given him this opportunity to help Freya and Rose. It’d be foolish of him not to go. 

BB-8 beeps, reminding Finn that they were on a time sensitive mission and he agrees. “Yeah, okay. Lead the way.” He raced after the speeding droid but not after he wished for Rey’s safety and used his awareness within the Force to connect with her mentally, telling her that he’d return to her. 

After the stun bolt wore off, Poe received a shock of another kind. He found himself lying in the cargo hold of a transport. Through a viewport he saw the Raddus receding. This could only mean his attempt to jump the cruiser to lightspeed had failed. 

“No, no, no.” He jumped to his feet, running to the window and pressed his hand against the cool surface and hung his head low. Holdo had won. The Resistance was doomed. 

“Poe.” General Organa sat at another viewport across the hold, motioning for him to join her and Commander D’Acy who stood nearby. 

He walked over to them, taking the general’s hand. Her gesture told him that any discord between them no longer existed. 

Out the viewport, a white orb shone brighter and bigger than any star. “What is that?” 

“The mineral planet Crait.” D’Acy informs him. “An uncharted hideout from the days of Rebellion.”

Poe noticed scant variation in the world’s topography. There were no signs of seas or lakes. “That’s a rebel base?”

“Abandoned but heavily armored. With enough power to get a distress signal to our allies scattered in the Outer Rim.” 

“Holdo knew the First Order was tracking our big ship.” Leia cuts in, sensing Poe’s confusion at their talk. “They’re not monitoring for little transports.”

Poe began connecting the dots, sitting down right next to her. “So we could slip down to the surface unnoticed and hide until the First Order passes. That could work.” 

General Organa slipped the bracelet beacon off Poe’s wrist. In all the activity, he’d forgotten he was even wearing it. He turned to the other viewport, seeing the Raddus shrinking in size as it led the Mega Destroyer and its armada away from the planet. 

Holdo was giving up her life for the Resistance and Poe felt ashamed he’d ever questioned her loyalty.

Leia sofly told him then, “She was more interested in protecting the light than she was seeming like a hero.” 

Nova focuses forwards on the door, feeling the turbolift rumbling through her feet. Casually she peers over her shoulder slightly to see Kylo standing still, his eyes staring off, deep in thought. They both were told to arrive to Snoke for a some sort of conference by Elsie and they obeyed, taking a stroll to the lift and Kylo punching in the special code to get to the level. Now, in silence, they stood. 

She kept on thinking back to what she had seen when she touched his hand, the images burned into her mind. Nova saw the shape of his future, solid and lucid. Snoke had been right, his conflict began to stir more considerably ever since he killed Han, however, Nova would be the one to help him. He would turn. The idea brought her a sense of relief, happily willing to be the one to return him back to his family.

But just then, Nova felt a trickle of fear. If she had seen something when they physically connected, she could only imagine what he had witnessed before his very eyes about her. What did her future hold?

Kylo was trying to devise a plan in his head and it took up all of his attention, having him not be in the here and now. He knew that he wanted to kill Snoke—no, he _knew_ he had to but he didn’t know what to do to achieve it. Snoke was always a step ahead of him, able to see his mind and every little thought. He wasn’t safe from the Supreme Leader, and neither was Nova. 

He needed to do something but his head was running empty on ideas. Maybe if he could—

“I got you,” Nova’s soft voice spoke. 

He looked at her in an instant, pulling him out of his trance. She stood with confidence, seemingly unafraid whereas he was slightly trembling from what they were about to encounter in the throne room. 

“Ben,” She starts to say. “Whatever you’re thinking, or planning, I got you. I’m with you. Every step of the way.” 

Kylo clenches his jaw, staring down into her heavenly eyes before taking a small gander at her soft pink lips then back up, meeting her sight once more. Her past made him weary because of what he saw, he knew that when the moment came, she’d turn to the dark side. She’d stand on the throne of the Sith; something that he had never dreamt of seeing and yet, there it was, when they’d touched. 

He was going to speak but the doors parted. He lifts his head as Nova turns and he feels dread quashing her confidence. In the cavernous hall, the Praetorian Guards maintained their positions, four to each side of the throne occupied by the Supreme Leader in his golden robes and in front of Snoke stood her sister in shackles.

“Rey,” Nova utters and Kylo sensed nothing from her but fear. 

Heading out into the room Kylo dropped to a knee and his stare before Snoke but Nova hesitated, her eyes never leaving Rey who exchanged a petrified stare to her older sister. Slowly, she kneeled next to Kylo but kept her eyes on the Supreme Leader.

“My faithful and good apprentices, welcome. I was just acquitating myself with young Rey here.” He looked more dead than alive the last time she saw him, like a cadaver animated by some evil force. 

He waved his hand and the shackles around Rey’s wrists released to a clang on the floor. Rey shook her limbs, bringing some feeling back into them and stood, unmoving as he loomed in the chair. His eyes were small, pinpricks of misery that froze her in cold terror. 

“Come closer, child.” 

Summoning every iota of will, she refused. 

“I warned my young apprentices that as they grew stronger, their equal in the light would rise.” He then picked up the Skywalker lightsaber that the one Stormtrooper had passed to him when he brought Rey, studying the fine craftsmanship of it. “That light was Skywalker,” he chuckles then adds, “I assumed. Wrongly.” 

He placed the hilt on the arm of his chair, his eyes lingering to Nova then back to Rey. The same spirit was hidden within them and Snoke could see their likeness but also their differences. It intrigued him. 

“Closer, I said.” He then summons her forwards. 

Rey dug in her heels but she was still pulled forwards against her will, past a pair of guards in red armor until she stood at the foot of the throne. While her body would not obey, her mind remained free. 

“You underestimate Skywalker, and my sister Nova, and Kylo Ren, and me. It will be your downfall.” 

“Oh.” Snoke sounded interested in what she had said. “Have you seen something? Is that why you came?” 

Rey maintained silent, her heavily breathing as she stared into his mangled face. Her and Finn both have seen something that Snoke hadn’t between Nova and Kylo. A connection that was so profound and other worldly that it didn’t make sense to Rey until she learned from Leia and Luke. It gave them drive, and hope for the Resistance. 

“I bridged their minds. I _stoked_ Ren’s conflicted soul because I knew he was not strong enough to hide it from _her_.” Snoke says, reading her mind right then and it absolutely terrified her which shook her pipe dream. 

Kylo peers up just then at his master, at the Supreme Leader, at Snoke. He’s not supposed to look up but he does anyway. His expression, the look that appeared on his face, it cemented the plan and the ending fate of Snoke. He made Kylo surmise that killing his father would lead him away from the light; to extinguish it and feel vigorous. But as he just explained to Rey, Snoke had him do it to further his inner quarrel with himself. It was never about being a demonstration of his loyalty to the dark side, it was a way of playing him like a fiddle to find solace within Nova.

He was a reactor. When something happens that he doesn’t like or agree with, he normally strikes. But in this moment, it was taking everything in him to not lash out. To not react to such words. Slowly he peers back down at the black reflective floor, his eyes capturing Nova’s mirrored image and seeing tears filling her eyes. She was upset for Kylo, seething under her calm demeanor, keeping her eyes glued onto Snoke and her sister. 

As if pulled by cords, Rey was wrenched up the stairs in front of Snoke’s face. “Now, you will give me Skywalker,” he said, placing her hand onto her cheek. “Then I will kill you with the cruelest stroke.” 

Breathing heavily, she mustered the only word that she could. “No.” 

Snoke smacked his thin lips. “Yes.” 

He released her cheek and flicked his hand, Rey flying off her feet and slamming into an invisible wall a few meters away. He kept her levitating high off the floor as the hideous tentacles of his mind invaded hers, contorting the flesh of her face. 

Nova tried to make a move but Kylo reached his gloved hand out to her wrist, grabbing it as a plea for her not to do anything reckless. She sadly peers over to him, her eyes to the brink of tears as she stares back up at her little sister who shook violently within the thrumming velocity of the Force.

“Give . . . me . . . _everything_.” The Supreme Leader orders.

His tendrils slithered like snakes around her brain, and with one vicious pull seemed to yank her lobes apart. She flailed and screamed, but there was no end to the pain. With her mind went her defiance and she gave Snoke everything. 

Freya endured shoves and kicks from the Stormtroopers as Captain Phasma took them into the Mega Destroyers hangar. Rose was handled in a somewhat general manner and as for DJ, he was nowhere to be seen. 

The hangar offered no opportunities for revenge or escape. The First Order’s firepower was on full display with a dizzying array of TIE fighters, droids walkers, assault shuttles, and combat ready Stormtroopers. A tall and trim military officer with hay colored hair watched it over. 

“General Hux, I have caught the intruders. And you won’t believe who the one is.” Captain Phasma said. 

The man turned toward them as they were forced down onto their knees and Rose recognized him immediately. Though Armitage Hux looked far too young to be a general, Rose knew the First Order thrived on the passion and arrogance of youth, which were Hux’s qualities. 

“Well done, Phasma. I can’t say I approve of the methods, but I can’t argue with the results.” Hux said, standing up before Freya. “As for you, I thought you were supposed to be dead?” 

“Would be a whole lot better than staring at your atrocious pale skin and orange hair.” She says and Hux steps back, not exactly what to say after that smart remark but luckily the attention in the room was turned on someone else. 

DJ stepped out from behind a row of Troopers as the sleek Libertine settled on the hangar floor. Flight officers guided a repulsor sled of credit crates onto its hold. 

“Your ship and payment, just as we agreed,” Phasma said to DJ. 

Rose scowled at the thief, trying to get up to attack but two Troopers restrained her, keeping her down on her knees. “You lying snake!” She thrashed in their grip, trying anything possible to pounce on him.

She regretted not trusting her instincts. DJ was just as he looked, a deceitful, flimflamming, rubbish mouthed rat. Even his slogan ‘Don’t join’ was a lie. He had joined a side—the wrong side. And he’d pay for it, if she ever had a chance to do anything about it. 

“We got caught.” He admitted. “I cut a d-d-deal.” 

“Wait, cut a deal with what?” Freya narrowed her eyes on him. 

Another officer delivered a report to Hux as he walked up. “Sir, we checked on the information from the thief. We ran a decloaking scan, and sure enough, thirty Resistance transports have just launched from the cruiser.” 

The world shattered around Freya as Hux favored DJ with a half grin. “He told us the truth. Will wonders never cease?” He told Captain Phasma, going back to the officer. “Our weapons ready?” 

“Ready and aimed, sir.” 

Freya gave Rose a look of despair. DJ had not only sold them out, he’d sold out Poe and the whole Resistance. 

“Fire at will.” Hux told the officer. 

The Mega Destroyer disgorged a blinding storm of energy at the transports. The viewports automatically darkened to dim a blinding explosion. 

D’Acy gasped. General Organa sighed. Poe stumbled toward the cockpit as shockwaves from other explosions rocked the transport. The First Order had foiled Holdo’s plan. The Supremacy’s cannons had the range to hit the transports even while tracking the cruiser. 

By the time Poe reached the cockpit, fifteen of the thirty Resistance transports had been blown apart. “Give it full thrusters, full speed!” 

The pilot’s face was red from stress. “I am, sir, I am!” 

Poe knew the pilot couldn’t do much more. The transports had been designed for cargo hauling, not battle. It’d be a miracle if one transport even managed to land on the planet. 

Nova had watched in horror and like with Poe Dameron when Kylo was tearing apart his memories to search for the map of Luke Skywalker, she received the back-end of the Rey’s torture within the Force. She saw her summoning the Skywalker lightsaber into her hand on Starkiller Base, her restless nights on Jakku and her staring at the tally scratched walls of how long she’s been there. Seen Rey approaching Luke on the island of Ahch-To with his father’s lightsaber and offering it to him which resulted in him rejecting it, telling her that the Jedi Order needed to end. 

“I did not expect Skywalker to be so wise.” Snoke chuckles. “We will give him and the Jedi Order the death he longs for. After the rebels are gone, we will go to his planet and obliterate the entire island.” He pushes harder to explore her brain. 

She and Finn are sitting on the mediating rock, learning of the Force and how it connects everything together. Then it transitions to them with the Skywalker lightsaber, twirling it in their hands and mock fighting an outcropping of rock. This memory enticed Snoke, so he began searching for him, scrambling around her lobes. 

There he was: an ex-Stormtrooper who had escaped the Finalizer with the Resistance pilot Poe Dameron, the one who had rescued her from Starkiller Base and who was Force sensitive. He was training next to her under Luke, using his skills as an experienced fighter in a lightsaber battle against Kylo Ren. Not as harsh as Rey, he was more calm and peaceful, and she admired that about him. Rey adored him, cared for him fondly. Finn was someone who made her feel whole as a person after her many years of isolation on Jakku. She loved him. 

“There is another.” Snoke grinned evilly. “Finn is his name.” 

At the mention of him, Rey screamed harder, determined to get him out of her head but it was no use. She was in anguish, fighting something that couldn’t be fended off. It was like being on fire and desperately trying to reach for a cup of water, in the long run, it’d be fruitless to reach it because a little splash wouldn’t subdue the blazing flames that engulfed her. 

“Stop,” the words leave Nova’s mouth so quietly that Kylo wasn’t sure if she was speaking to Snoke or herself. “Stop.” This time she says louder, the mental torture that Snoke was inflicting on Rey becoming increasingly worst and too much for her to bear. 

Kylo fixed his eyes on her reflection that was the left of his, her heel was lifting off the floor, her body ready to spring into action and he silently pleaded for her not to do what she was about to do. 

But she did. 

Nova stood fast and strongly, throwing out her arm towards Snoke, demanding him to stop with the Force. His hold on Rey released, her falling to the ground near Nova and Kylo with a bone crunching thud. 

Snoke redirected his power onto her, her arm being thrown back behind her and paralyzing her body in place. “I thought we had an understanding, Ms. Hux.” He remarks. “She’s the enemy.” 

“You took what you wanted,” she snapped back, her throat clenching from the intensity of his power. “Leave her alone.” 

“You’re too soft. You’re emotional. You care about other people and what they think.” Snoke seethed. “I’m the one who brought you here, who gave you a home. I deserve respect, deserve praise for saving you from your life being passed around.”

“ _You_ didn’t save me.” Nova glared, gnashing her teeth. “You used me.” 

“Inconsiderate child.” Snoke flicks his hand, Nova flying over into the wall and hits with a massive boom. She clatters to the floor, her head bashing off the glossy floor and whimpering in pain. Her body aching and Kylo turned his head, seeing her wincing at every little move that she was trying to make. Rey saw it, too.

The girl rolled onto her feet, standing firmly, lifting her hand toward Snoke with determination. The Skywalker lightsaber flew from the throne’s armrest and towards Rey. 

Snoke curled his fingers and the lightsaber looped around Kylo which made him jerk his head out of old habit, already knowing what was going to happen. The weapon clubbed her in the skull, a notion of reprimanding the girl as the hilt returned to the throne and settled back on the armrest. 

“Such spunk. Look here now.” Snoke gestures and Rey slide past the silent Praetorian Guards toward the oval oculus that peered through a gap in the red curtains.

The Mega Destroyers cannons reached across the expanse to winnow the fleeting Resistance transports. The enemy cruiser lagged far behind them, its engines sputtering. 

“The entire Resistance is on those transports. Soon they will all be gone.” Snoke said. “For you, all is lost.” 

But Rey had not surrendered herself to despair. The desert girl had more than just spunk. She still had hope for them and her sister. 

She turned herself around against Snoke’s hold, seeing Nova pushing herself up onto her feet and giving her a slight nod. With understanding, Rey readied herself as Nova unfastened her lightsaber from her belt and threw it to her with help of the Force. The red blade ignited in her hold, lighting up the half side of her face as she narrowed her eyes on the Supreme Leader. 

“Ohh. And that fiery spit of hope.” Snoke snickered, holding a hand to halt off the guards.“You have the spirit of a true Jedi,” he said to Rey and with the sweep of his hand, he flung her across the room. 

She landed hard and the lightsaber flew out of her grip, retracting its blade as it skidded across the room and towards the turbolift doors. 

“Rey!” Nova shouted, trying to run for her sister but she was stopped dead in her tracks, her mind instantly being invaded by Snoke and she pressed her hands to her head as if she could keep it together from being ripped apart. Her knees buckle, throbbing from hitting the hard ground and she screams in agony as her secrets were being looted through. 

Kylo raised his head in that very moment, seeing Nova suffer the way that he had suffered every day of his life while under the influence of Snoke whenever he had made an error in training.

“My worthy apprentice,” the Supreme Leader said, almost warmly and Kylo turned to look at him, “son of darkness, heir apparent to Lord Vader, where there was conflict I now sense resolve. Where there was weakness, shall be strength.” 

At the mention of weakness, he looks back to Nova who looked distraught and physically tired. _It isn’t her strength that is making you fail, it’s your weakness,_ Snoke once told him. 

His master rendered Nova broken so she wasn’t able to maintain her insolence and fight back against him. His master had harmed Nova so her strength wouldn’t get in the way of what had to be done. 

“Complete your training,” Snoke tells him and contorts his finger, Nova’s arms being thrust behind her back as she struggles against the tension. “And fulfill your destiny.” 

This was the moment that he thought would happen by killing his father on Starkiller, the moment that Snoke had lied to him about. Han was never the completion of his training, Nova was. To achieve the destiny his master foresaw, he would need to kill the one who was truly his enemy for turning to the light. 

Kylo retrieved his lightsaber and strode toward Nova, seeing how she stared up into his eyes with such sadness and intensity. This was the girl who believed in him, who understood every single thing about him, to make him feel like he belonged to something for the first time in his whole life. 

“Ben,” she utters, gulping. 

Emotions churned inside of him, pangs of fear and guilt he could never fully purge. They reminded him of a part of himself he had thought he destroyed—another destiny in which he had once believed, told to him by another master. 

“You think he will turn? Pathetic child.” Snoke mused, Nova’s thoughts still fresh in his mind’s eye. “I cannot be betrayed. I cannot be beaten. I see his mind. I see his every intent.” 

Nova kept her stare up on the boy that she came to attached to, that was connected with her through body and mind. Like Rey with the Resistance, she still had her trust in Kylo—in Ben Solo.

Snoke closed his eyes as Kylo held out the hilt toward Nova’s chest, kinking his mouth into a sicklelike grin. “Yes. I see him turning the lightsaber to strike true.” 

At that instant, Kylo Ren perceived his true destiny. It was a destiny not prophesied by any master, but a destiny he chose for him. He knew what he had to do.

Slipping his free hand behind his back, he gestured to the Skywalker lightsaber on the throne’s armrest to pivot a quarter turn. 

“And now, foolish child, he ignites it,” Snoke rasped, his eyes opening to see the final blow to the scavenger, “and kills his true enemy!”

With a twitch of his two fingers, Kylo Ren had paid back all the punishments he had suffered over the years. With the twitch of his two fingers, he chose Nova and their connection over the only other thing he has ever been connected to in his adult life. 

On the armrest, the blue blade of the Skywalker lightsaber activated with a snapping hiss and stabbed Snoke straight through his waist. The Supreme Leader gasped, staring at his apprentice as Nova was released from his hold. Kylo called on the Force again, slicing sideways with the blade and cleaning Snoke in two. 

As the halves of the Supreme Leader tumbled off the throne, the lightsaber kept on traveling through the air and Nova held up her hand, catching the hilt. She then stood, staring at the boy before her and smiled softly. Kylo Ren had just gone against the evil man who had preyed on his mind since before he was born, and that in itself, demonstrated just how strong he was. Nova couldn’t be more proud. 

Rey jogged over to the two of them, handing Nova her lightsaber and exchanged it for the Skywalker hilt. With Nova igniting her red blade, Kylo activates his own and the three of them twist around, seeing the Praetorian Guards charging with their weapons. 

Kylo blocks an attack from his left as Nova bends backward to avoid getting beheaded and Rey swings to the right to hold off a guard. Four guards advance on the girls, Rey batting them off while Nova blocked and did sneaking strikes that they didn’t see coming. 

In the midst, Nova glances over her shoulder to see Kylo twirling his lightsaber around and striking the ground to make sparks shoot up in the one guard’s face to back away from him. He stands, blocking an overhand blow and another was coming up, about to stab him but Nova intervened. She stabs the guard directly into the chest, her blade piercing the armor and rips it free before going back to helping Rey. 

The Supremacy rumbled with each blast of its megalaser batteries. Visible through the hangar’s magnetically shielded portal, tiny dots that were the Resistance transports blinked out of existence one after the other. 

“You murdering bastard!”

Though Freya struggled in the grip of the Stormtroopers, she directed her slur at DJ. The thief tallied the stacks of credits near his stolen ship, not the least bit offended. “T-T-Take it easy, Big F. They blow you up today, you blow them up tomorrow. It’s just business.” 

“You’re wrong.” 

Dj took a moment to think it over, then shrugged. “Maybe.” 

Seeming satisfied by the progress of the attack, General Hux turned from the portal to his prisoners. Rose’s necklace caught his glance and he grabbed the crescent medallion. “The Otomok system. That brings back memories,” he said, rather fondly. “You nermin may draw a little blood with a bite now and then, but we’ll always win.” 

Inspired by his speech, Rose leaned forward and bit Hux’s hand, breaking skin. He shrieked like a whelp while Stormtroopers wrested her away from him. 

“Execute them both!” Hux shouted at Phasma. Clasping his injured hand, he hurried off. 

Kylo swung his lightsaber down on the guard’s bladed weapon, the edges enhanced by ultrasonic generators. He thrust upwards with his saber, the fiery crossguards catching the blade and brought it down in an arch before elbowing the guard in the face. His gloved hand grabs him from behind the neck as he kicks away another guard that ran up on him. Kylo then threw the guard that he held behind the head at the other which knocked them both to the ground. 

A guard that was attacking Rey had a whip for a weapon, throwing it at her but she deflected it with her lightsaber. The end of the chain whip got stuck in the blade and she was straining as it sparked, trying to pull away from it to release. The guard began coiling up the whip with his arms, bringing Rey closer and closer. Within an arm’s reach, he grabbed the collar of her vest and tried to bring her throat to the sharp end of his weapon. 

Having dealt with many thugs and thieves on Jakku, this wasn’t the first time she had been in a lock like this. Effortlessly, Rey swings her body under and around behind the guard, bringing the end of the saber through his side to stake him. She then pulls back harshly in a spin, whipping the lightsaber forwards to throw the spitting whip off the blade and into the red current wall. 

Nova was fighting against two guards, her mind throbbing like an open wound as it pieced itself back together from Snoke’s invasive probe. In the Force, she had never felt stronger and in a blur of her laser blade, one red guard fell, then the other. The Praetorians’ weapons clattered to the ground next to their bodies while slashed curtains fluttered down like funeral shrouds. 

She double handed her hilt, blocking a low strike from underneath by swinging her weapon down to clash against the guard’s. She held it firmly, tight, her arms shaking from the powerful vibrations of their weapons reacting to one another. Fluidly she flips her lightsaber up and over, sidestepping off as she whacked the back of the vibro-voulge away from her body and out of the guard’s hands. Nova then brought back her lightsaber, slashing at the guard’s throat and back he fell with a thud. 

Kylo was savagely fighting off two guards, blocking their weapons with his lightsaber, trapping them in the crossguards as they shoved him backwards. His head shot up, the Force warning him that another was coming to strike down on him but he was fast, thrusting up on his saber which broke away the two guards. Charging forwards, he stabbed the oncoming guard in the chest and discarded the body off into an electric chasm which exploded the armor and the body to bits. 

Nova was stepping backwards, her shoulder blades meeting against Kylo’s back and she peers over her shoulder at him and he does the same. They both were heavily panting, standing together as one and they readied their lightsabers as three Praetorian Guards crowded around them. Kylo raises his up with both hands and in front of his face, stretched outwards. Nova held hers in both hands like him but her blade was horizontal to her body, paralleling to her reflection on the floor. 

The guard before Nova had an electro-chain whip and the two before Kylo held a vibro-voulge and an electro-bisento. With their connection making them a formidable pair and reading each other without even seeing one another, they lower their lightsabers and switch places as the guards pounce for their attack. 

Kylo takes on the whip, blocking while Nova thrusts her right arm upwards, sheltering herself from the blades of the two guards. Kylo then strikes down on the chain whip, thrusting his body backwards in a low hunch and Nova leans her own weight on him as she throws out her left hand to Force push the guards away. She then flips herself over Kylo’s body, rocketing up on her hands as she deactivated her lightsaber and shoving herself off his broad shoulders to land on the guard’s one shoulder. Placing her hilt above her head, she brings it down into his neck, displaying her blade to stab him. 

His body collapses from under her and she lands safely, getting up and sensing a guard behind her. She turns, seeing him wielding a single double-bladed polearm which he then breaks apart, creating twin vibro-arbir blades. Nova scoffs a laugh, twirling her lightsaber in her right hand and takes off in a sprint towards him. 

A clash, slash, and a parry, Nova avoided the two twin blades respectively. She had many experiences with these in her simulations so it wasn’t a hard task, _however,_ this guard was adamant on landing a hit. Nova began tiring but she kept up with his pace, her eyes darting back and forth between Rey who was fighting the other guard with twin vibro-arbir blades and Kylo still fighting the other two. She goes back to paying attention, scurrying backwards and pirouettes, switching the lightsaber over to her left hand, blocking an overhead onslaught. The guard picks up his foot, kicking her directly in the stomach and Nova stumbles, tripping and landing on her back. 

Her lightsaber knocks out of her hand, the back of her head whacking off the hard floor and she blacks for a short moment. Her vision blurred and she tried to prop herself up onto her elbows, rubbing the back of her head as the guard moved towards her and he went for the final ambush. She managed to roll herself back and away as the blade connected with the glossy black flooring, kicking him in the helmet with both of her feet, him losing his hold on the blades. Pivoting up on her knees, Nova snatches the twin blades and slashes at the guard’s kneecaps, cutting through the armor. Defenseless, the guard just eyes her and she flips the left blade in a reverse grip, slashing and dicing at her opponent.

The guard picks up an electro-bisento of one of his many fallen comrades and fights back with blocks and batters. On and on they went, him trying to decapitate her but she wouldn’t let him get the chance. She ducks under the blade of the bisento then Force jumps over it as he tries to cut through her legs, landing down in a kneel and branishes her twin blades. Springing back into action, the guard knocks the one blade away from her hand and she goes to attack with the other but that was taken away too. 

Advancing on her, she dodged smoothly, throwing out her left hand with the Force, her lightsaber from across the room flew directly at his mask, activating. The red blade burns a hole where his eye socket was, him dropping the twin blades and body going limp. As he hit the ground, the lightsaber was still held in place by Nova and it tore through the rest of his before she dropped it. 

Kylo downed the third to the last guard with a polearm and his lightsaber, crushing him between the two weapons until the last one storms up, swiping for his neck. Kylo bends back speedily, the guard spinning around and sweeping for legs but Kylo jumps back to avoid the strike, almost slipping and falling. The polearm swings downwards and he grabs for it with all of his strength until the guard gets the best of him. The Praetorian shifts behind Kylo, forcing him into a kneeling position and quickly hoists the pole against his throat. The boy began choking, trying to pry the bar from his neck but the guard held a tight grip on it. 

Nova felt his shortness of breath through their connection and she whips her head around, frowning. “Ben!” She threw out her left arm, harnessing the Force to hold off the guard and it was working. The Praetorian struggled to move, his grip loosening up and Kylo was able to breathe a bit more but he was still having trouble. 

A female scream turns Nova from Kylo, peering over across from them to see a guard placing a voulge at the base of Rey’s neck and she held back his arm that wielded it, trying to push it away as she wrestled with the man’s strength. Her lightsaber was long gone, away from her like how Kylo’s was.

Throwing out her right hand to her sister, Nova was straddling the line of trying to protect the two people that she cared the most about. 

The sensation was overbearing, wearing the poor girl out as she began breathing heavily and losing focus. Her limbs were shaking, fingers trembling, her head pounded and Nova felt her hold slipping which made the weapons at Kylo and Rey’s necks inch closer. She couldn’t lose them, she couldn’t. She wouldn’t. At least not today. 

Calling on every fiber in her being, Nova channeled everything she had into a source and groans, breaking out into a sweat. She focuses, using the Force and repeating to herself that she was one with the Force and that the Force was with her. Her sprawled out fingers turn into fists and with a warrior’s yell, she bends her elbows and brings them rapidly in towards her chest. 

The remaining guard’s necks snap violently, their bodies dropping onto the scuffed and smoking floor to join the others and Supreme Leader Snoke. Exhausted, Nova crumbles to her knees and hands, coughing as Kylo and Rey are released from their positions and catch their breath. 

Rey rushed to Nova, checking to see if her big sister was alright while Kylo wandered over to where the Skywalker lightsaber lied, picking it up to examine it for himself before glancing over at the sisters. 

Nova gets up onto her feet, seeing the massacre that was being waged in space behind them. Rey saw it, too, rushing over to the wall where the curtains had hung. An enormous window showed the Destroyers converging on the Resistance cruiser while the Supremacy continued it’s assault on the transports. 

“The fleet. Order them to stop firing. There’s still time to save the fleet!” She turned to Nova. 

Nova went to tell her that she didn’t have power to make that type of command but there was a tickle in the back of her brain that demanded her attention. The girl gazes back to see Kylo standing over Snoke’s body with the Skywalker hilt in his hand. 

“Ben,”

Kylo lifts his head slowly. “It’s time to let old things die. Snoke, Skywalker.” He pauses, looking at the girls but mostly to Nova who stood closer to him. “The Sith, the Jedi, the Rebels. Let it all die.” 

His eyes never left Nova and he began walking towards her cautiously with such purpose that one would have never thought that just moments before he was struggling to breathe. 

“Nova,” Kylo extends his hand out to her and he was so nervous, pressing his lips together and swallowing hard. He knew this moment was going to define his life and what he was going to say was everything. It was important. “I want you to join me. We can rule together and bring a new order to the galaxy.” 

Her chest tightened. The throbbing returned to her head as her lips slightly part then moved into frown. From behind she heard Rey’s small steps, her own sister not believing what was consquiring before her. 

“Nova, don’t do this.” Rey pleas. “Don’t go this way.” 

Nova stares back at her sister, seeing the little girl that had been abandoned on Jakku all by herself and how she had to spend all those years alone without their parents. How could she ever leave her again? 

She faces Kylo shyly, “Ben, I—”

“No, no, you’re still holding on! Let go!” Kylo shouts. 

This had been the first time that he's ever raised his voice to Nova even with his notoriously short temper, but there was a reason. He was desperate; so scared—so afraid of losing her. 

She has weaponized her rage and hurt like how he was taught and rather than sharing his same belief system, she had hers of needing to reunite with her family. Something he completely understood but also terrified him. 

He didn’t have much to offer Nova but this was one thing he could do, to reach out because he sensed just how quickly he was losing her. She was slipping away like sand in an hourglass, little by little. 

“Nova, do you want to know the truth,” he lowers his hand and begins again gently. “Or have you always known? And you’ve just hidden it away?” 

The closer he got, the more emotional Nova felt. To her, it felt like they were the only ones in the room, and everything else just melted away into the black void and white stars. 

He searched her mind, the answers to her questions were locked away and she never wanted to reveal them. “You know the truth.” Kylo wasn’t being sneaky or manipulative, he just wanted to make sense of it all. To understand her on a more personal level. 

Nova knew only what she feared. And what she feared was the truth of the voice from her dreams: _I’ll come back for you. I promise._

That was not the voice of her mother or her father, as she had long convinced herself. 

She had imagined that voice and repeated those words over and over as a child until they became a part of her reality, even her dreams. They had helped her fall asleep on a hungry stomach and pushed her to persevere when the future seemed bleak when being passed around through many owners. 

It was false hope. 

The truth was that they were never planning on coming back for her or Rey. The truth was that their parents were junk traders with no last names, and that they must have met their demise somehow, somewhere. 

Nova got teary eyed, sniffling. Her whole life had been one giant lie of her own making, a castle of dreams and echoes that had no foundation. 

“You believe that you’re a nobody,” Kylo steps toward her. “You’re nothing.” Nova swallows harshly and Kylo does too, feeling her body tense as her memories fill her head. He then reached for her with his awareness, trying to keep those thoughts away from her as his tone grew tender. “But not to me.”

She looked at him, pale and ghostly in the starlight of the window. The cascading, twinkling waterfall of sparks from the fight behind him, adding ambience to this very intimate moment. 

Kylo offers his hand out once more. “Join me.” 

Nova stares down at his gloved hand, it outstretched for her, begging for her to take it into hers. Her past didn’t matter to him, what did was her place in the future and he hoped that it was with him. 

He takes another step, his hand shaking and begginly whispers, “ _Please_.”

Gradually, Nova’s hand lifted and began reaching out to Kylo’s shakily. She was thinking about her parents, about Rey, and about Kylo. She saw his future and maybe joining him was what made him turn? But what if it drove her to the dark side? He had promised a new order, something better than what Snoke had taught and that was an interesting thing as well. 

With more confidence, Nova’s fingers were just about to touch his but Rey made her own move. 

With a tug of the Force, she summoned the Skywalker lightsaber from Kylo’s left hand. It shot toward her, then stopped. Kylo raised a hand and the lightsaber froze in midair. 

Rey pulled at the lightsaber with the Force, wiggling it closer to her, until Kylo yanked it back toward him as Nova backed up and stood next to him. 

On the Raddus, Holdo hastily rechecked that the heavy cruiser’s navicomputer hadn’t kicked back the overrides that she’d had to program into it. The First Order flagship began to slide across space ahead of the Raddus, outside the temporary bridge’s viewports. Turbolaser fire continued to lance out from its bow, destroying the Resistance transports seeking safety on Crait. 

She began readying the ship. 

Captain Peavey stood at attention on the Supremacy’s bridge, watching as yet another Resistance transport vanished into flame. Hux entered the bridge just as a monitor called up from one of the crew pits. 

“Sir, the Resistance cruiser is preparing to jump to lightspeed.” 

Peavey turned an inquiring glance to Hux, hoping the hotheaded young general wouldn’t do something rash. And for once, he didn’t. 

“It’s empty.” He mused, grinning. “They’re just trying to pull our attention away. Pathetic. Keep your fire on those transports.” 

Finn and BB-8 snuck into the hangar, seeing Freya and Rose laying on their stomachs and staring at each other as Captain Phasma ordered Troopers with laser axes to behead them. The heads of the weapons hummed, vibrating at an incredible speed. The girls tried to wriggle free, to no avail. 

“On my command,” Phasma said. 

“BB-8, hurry.” Finn muttered to the astromech as he worked on the head of a two legged walker. 

Just then, he felt Rey calling out to him through the Force. Needing his help desperately and he frowned, knowing that he needed to help Freya and Rose but the pull to Rey was so strong that he looked to BB-8. 

The droid knew his look too well because he chirped to him and Finn thanked him for the understanding and ran off towards the throne room. 

Poe hurried back into the hold. The viewport showed a handful of transports left, yet it was unlikely any would make it to the planet before the Mega Destroyer had obliterated them all. 

He thought they’d been hit when the transport rattled violently. He grabbed a handle to steady himself. Pieces of fuselage whipped past the viewport. The megalaser cannons hadn’t struck them, but their neighbor, and they flew through the wreckage. 

From Poe’s calculations, the Resistance was down to six transports. Even if they locked themselves in the rebel base on Crait, it was not a force adequate to repel the First Order. 

Connix stood next to him, peering out to see the Raddus to see it turning. “She’s running away.” 

Poe saw the cruiser’s engines flaring a hot blue white, as they did before a leap. But he also noticed the Raddus’s forward bow was pointed in a direction that did not suggest retreat. 

“No, she isn’t.” Poe said. 

Ahead of the Supremacy, the Raddus was staring it down and Peavey waited for the ship to vanish, followed by the telltale twisting of space and burst of Cronau radiation that marked hyperspace wake. He idly tried to imagine where the heavy cruiser might be heading. It didn’t much matter, Peavey doubted the cruiser had enough fuel for another jump once it arrived. 

But the cruiser hadn’t jumped. Peavey leaned forward, curious, and realized the other officers were doing the same. Horrified realization etched on their faces. They knew what the Resistance captain planned to do. 

“No.” Peavey remarks. 

“Fire on that cruiser!” Hux screams in an order, pointing out towards the ship. 

Finn ran through the lift’s doors, seeing the ruined throne room and his eyes instantly fell on Rey and Kylo in the middle of their battle with the Skywalker lightsaber. “Rey!” 

“Finn! Help!” Rey strains, grunting as she clenches her teeth. He ran up, throwing out his own hand to help jerk the lightsaber into his and Rey’s grasp and the hilt vibrates in place, lurching towards them. 

Kylo was struggling and in the moment, Nova knew that this would make her choice. She joined him in reaching for the Skywalker lightsaber and once she added in her own Force power to will the hilt into her palm, the Force came alive between all of them. It pushed the two couples back and away from each other, all their feet sliding against the ravaged floors. Dust and wind parted the two halves of the room, creating a vortex between them and the lightsaber was in the middle of it all. 

Kylo’s eyes flickered back and forth between the lightsaber and Finn while Nova’s was shifting from the lightsaber to Rey. It was another display of strength, of understanding and both sides were winning as they desperately tried to outshine the other. What Rey and Finn possessed in will, Kylo and Nova matched in determination. Neither one could overpower the other and lay claim to the hilt. 

“Execute.” Phasma calls as the Troopers raise their axes, Freya and Rose shutting their eyes tightly as they braced for killing blows. 

Holdo punched it, the Raddus making it’s jump to hyperspace. 

Under the duress of the forces of Kylo and Nova, and Rey and Finn who wrenched at the hilt like gravitational giants, the saber could not hold. It was, after all, an elegant weapon for a more civilized age. And in this most uncivilized moment and pressure, the lightsaber split in two, exploding in a blaze of blinding white that sent the couples off their feet and back into the air. 

The cruiser emerged to slice through the Mega Destroyer. Like a star turning in on itself, the colossal warship buckled and burned, igniting a wave of devastation that enveloped anything near it. The Raddus was devoured, as were half the Destroyers in the First Order armada. 

Vice Admiral Holdo had just sacrificed herself to save the Resistance.


	17. New Hope

Smoke stung Freya’s eyes as alarms blared at ear piercing decibels. The hangar around her was in shambles. Docking rigs have caved in on TIE fighters. Stormtroopers were strewn about, their armor charred and broken. Slag marked where a gunship had set. Walkers lay toppled, their legs smashes. Fires raged everywhere. 

The Mega Destroyer had been hit hard. And from the looks of what was happening in the hangar, it was in its death throes. 

Freya stumbled after Rose toward a shuttle that hadn’t sustained much damage. Dj was nearby, on the verge of departure. The thief stood on the ramp of the stolen yacht, waving farewell as the ramp retracted. Freya snatched a blaster rifle from a fallen Trooper and fired at the traitor but the hatch had already closed so that the bolt glanced harmlessly off the Libertine’s hull. 

Secondary explosions ripped through fuel lines, and dark clouds billowed across the hangar. Rose grabbed Freya’s arm and she dropped the heavy rifle as they ran toward the shuttle. 

Captain Phasma and a squad of Stormtroopers stepped out of the smoke in front of them. Freya paled as the Troopers raised their blasters but just then, a salvo of laser fire beat the Troopers to their triggers; causing them to scatter for cover. Cannons ablaze, the head shell of a two legged walker came off its body, showing BB-8 in the cockpit. 

Rose retrieved a blaster and ducked behind a melted beam, returning fire. Phasma, however, charged at Freya. 

From the floor, Freya picked up a discarded riot baton and swung at Phasma, chopping off the barrel of her rifle. Dropping the gun, the chrome Trooper slid a quicksilver rod from her belt and pushed a buston. Its ends extended into a slim baton with two needle sharp points. 

“You were always such a pest to handle,” she said. 

Freya gripped the baton with both hands. “And you always acted like a son of a Bantha, but I never judged.” 

It wasn’t a fair fight. Not only was Phasma suited in armor, but she was a master with the baton. Her strikes thundered against Freya’s baton, rattling her arms and bones. All Freya could manage was to block and parry her attacks as she drove her under the walker’s leg and through the smoke to a cleft in the floor. “You were always disobedient, disrespectful,” she said, whirling her baton.

“You _do_ realize that you’re not looking in the mirror right now, _right_?” 

Phasma hammered at her baton, and Freya couldn’t keep her balance any more. She tumbled backward into the hole. Fires crackled beneath her, but she didn’t fall far. She landed on the platform of a cargo lift, thanking her lucky stars for being saved yet again. The repulsors still functioned and she dialed them to take herself back up to the hangar. 

Reemerging, Freya smirks, “What you know? Rise of a phoenix.” 

In a fluid motion, she clocks her baton at Phasma’s helmet, sparks flying every which way and she stumbles backwards. Her helmet cracked.

“Why you little—”

“Phasma!” A voice rang out. The chrome skinned Stormtrooper turned, a blue eye seeing Finn standing in the middle of the destruction, holding the broken pieces of the Skywalker lightsaber in his left hand. 

Finn froze momentarily. He had never thought of Captain Phasma without her helmet, and seeing that she was actually human made him feel sad for ever thinking that she wasn’t. 

During the raid on Jakku, Finn’s decision not to fire with the rest of his squad was the decision that had changed his life. It was when he had finally overcome the First Order’s browbeating and brainwashing and had broken with their heartless violence. It was when he had started down the path of protecting innocents rather than preserving tyranny, a path that led him to Rey and to becoming a Jedi. If that could happen to him, why not Phasma? 

“You don’t have to do this.” Finn starts, “You’re not evil, and you don’t belong here. Come with us, Phasma. I can help you. You can start again and change what you’ve known.” 

The woman shakes her head. “The strongest will decide everyone’s fate regardless of their beliefs. The only way to live with any sense of pride, FN-2187, is to bet your life on the strongest and remain loyal to them. I placed mine on the First Order.”

From behind Phasma, Freya and Rose ran to BB-8 and got into the cockpit head of the bipedal walker, working its controls. It lumbered through the ruined hangar and hotfooted to the shuttle. 

To buy the girls and him and Rey some more time, Finn remembered something and began speaking once more softly. “You call for order. You beat us down. But you had helped us rather willingly. The evidence blew up with the base, but you and I know the truth. When I put that gun to your head, you shut down Starkiller’s shields. You don’t believe in placing bets, not really.” 

“I’m important to them, they _need_ me.” She argues bitterly. “And guards should have been on their posts. I expected them to shoot down scum like you.” 

Finn nodded. “Rebel scum.” 

With one mighty and powerful swing, her rod goes to strike but Finn raises his free hand. Harnessing the Force, he held her weapon in place and she grunted in effort to try and move it but it was no use. She backs off and tries another attack from the side, but like before, Finn stops it as it vibrates in an invisible hold. 

“You’re not better than me!” Phasma angrily seethes through her clenched teeth. 

With kindness, and a touch of smug, Finn replies, “I know.” 

He shoves her back just enough to place distance between them as he feels the arrival of Rey. Finn turns, seeing her in Supreme Leader’s Snoke transport. He rushes to the end of the hangar, Force jumping onto the open ramp and climbing up inside and into the cockpit with Rey. Together, they flew off and signaled Chewie to come and get them. 

After the light, there was darkness. Kylo Ren sank deeper and deeper into it until a sound roused him out of the void. A footstep, followed by a feeling. 

He was about to die. 

Kylo woke with a jolt, finding General Hux standing over him and his hand swayed from the blaster he was about to pull. His face knitting in false concern. “What happened?” 

He was still in the throne room, with his slain master and the Praetorians rotting on the floor. Smoke drifted from where the lightsaber had exploded, Rey and Finn were nowhere to be seen, and Nova—

_Nova!_ His senses screamed out and he staggered, propping himself up on his hands and knees, seeing her body laying just a few meters away from him. Her eyes were closed, her brown hair splayed all around her as her crimson fabric sashes pooled around her slender figure, appearing as if she laid in a puddle of blood. 

Kylo scurries over, tearing the gloves from his hands and gently cups her cheeks—which made his palms tingle like static. He tilts her head up to face him, noticing that her temple was bruised from when she landed on the ground. There were also small cuts on her cheek and forehead from the massive blast that sent them flying back through the air at high velocity. She was still breathing, just unconscious and he let out a shaky breath that he didn’t know that he was holding. 

“Ben?” She whispers groggily, flickering her eyes—those wonderful green and brown speckled eyes—open to meet with his. 

Suddenly, the last moments before the breaking of the lightsaber played in his mind. She was reaching for him, accepting his offer of them ruling the galaxy together and it brought him to the brink of almost smiling. Almost. If it weren’t for General Hux who began speaking once again. 

“Are you going to explain this?” 

“Snoke was murdered,” Kylo said, helping Nova up and onto her feet. 

Bodies slid as the floor suddenly tipped. Hux grabbed the shreds of a hanging curtain while Kylo rooted his feet to the floor with the Force and held his arm around Nova’s waist securely. Her body pressed up against his, her left hand sprawled out against his chest and burying her face right into his shoulder. A fiery light poured through the viewport behind the throne and Nova lifted her head with curiosity. 

Out in space, there beheld a cataclysm. 

The Supremacy had been shorn in two, the innards of its bisected other half visible as explosions tore it further apart. Smaller Destroyers burned around it, their spearheaded bows colliding into each other to feed an expanding chaos. 

It was Kylo’s turn to ask the question. “What happened?” He eyes the ginger man. 

Hux didn’t answer as the room’s grav-units reestablished themselves and straightened himself out. “The girl took Snoke’s escape craft.” 

Nova stared into the inferno before drifting her eyes up at the planet of Crait, knowing that Rey was out there. Dropping her hand from Kylo’s chest, she pulls her body off of him but his muscular arm never left her and she didn’t want it to. In the small of her back, his hand rested respectively and comfortably. 

“We know where she’s going.” Kylo speaks and Nova peers up at him for a moment. “Get all our forces down to that Resistance base. Let’s finish this.” He guides Nova away from the viewport, leading the way to the turbolift. 

“Finish this? Who do you think you’re talking to? You presume to command _my_ army.” Hux challenged with a look of pure disdain and Kylo stopped in his tracks, his hand slowly removing itself from Nova’s lower back. “Our Supreme Leader is dead! We have no ruler!” 

Without looking, he shot out his hand back towards Hux and the general’s windpipe clenched violently and suddenly. Hux begins sagging down onto his knees and Kylo turns, seeing his pale face and his eyelids grow beet red as his lungs desperately crave for air. 

“The Supreme Leader,” Kylo Ren spoke, “is dead.” 

Hux began tugging at his collar as if that could stop the strangulation. “Long live . . . the . . . Supreme Leader.” He rasped, looking up at him. All glints of hatred vanished from his eyes. 

Nova placed her hand up on Kylo’s, a signal for him to release and he does. Hux gasped for breath, his entire body falling forwards but stopping himself with his arms that flew out in front of him. She then scans the ruined floor, spotting her hilt and calls for it, the lightsaber landing directly into her palm before attaching to her belt and heading for the lift. 

As it had so often in her life, history was repeating itself. 

Bundled in a high collared coat, Leia stares out at the surface of Crait from the entrance of the old rebel fort. Around her loomed a ridge of coal dark mountains. Behind her, the last soldiers of the Resistance carried out Captain Dameron’s orders to arm themselves. And before her stretched a plain as desolate as Hoth’s icy wastes, with salt in place of snow. Soon the walkers and war machines of the First Order would trample that ground and wage an assault on the base, just as the Empire had forty years before on the planet Hoth. 

The Rebel Alliance had survived that siege, managing to evacuate in time. The Resistance had no such option. All of the six transports that had landed on Crait were damaged and in need of repair. Even if they launched, they would never get far without an ion cannon to neutralize the Destroyers in orbit. Unlike Hot, the base on Crait wasn;t much more than a warren of abandoned mineral mines with a deflector shield and armor shelled outer door. Leia would transmit a distress call for reinforcements, but if none came by the time the First Order broke through the door, it would be all over. 

Perhaps history wasn’t repeating itself. Perhaps this was the end. 

She reproached herself for having such thoughts. She’d been in similar dead-end situations in the past, and she wasn’t dead, not yet. She had to hold on to hope. As she told her troops, if you only believed in the sun when you saw it, you’d never make it through the night. 

She touched the beacon on her wrist. Rey and Finn were still out there, somewhere, as was Luke. The stimshots and medical droids had bolstered her recovery, but she had felt her brother searching for her through the Force which boosted her strength and saved her from the brink of death. 

She looked up at the sky and thought of him. 

Six TIE fighters and a First Order assault shuttle broke through the clouds and descended toward the base. It seemed rather small for an advanced attack group. The First Order’s armada had only been crippled, not destroyed. Nonetheless, she was well aware of the size of the forces that would follow. 

“They’re coming. Shut the door.” 

She retreated into the base. The shield door, a reinforced block of a hundred meters tall, began to drop, its rusty gears whining from years of nonuse. When they had arrived, Leia was grateful that her old rebel codes had opened the door. Now she prayed she wasn’t sealing them all in a tomb. 

As the Resistance soldiers went further back into the mines, so did the mountain’s native inhabitants, a four legged species the rebels had called crystal foxes because of the crystalline spines bristling from their vulpine bodies. Whenever the foxes move, the spines clinked like a symphony of chimes. How and why the foxes had evolved in that way, no one knew. War always put the natural sciences on the backburner. 

The First Order shuttle sped ahead of the TIEs and arrowed toward the base’s entrance. “Take cover!” Poe yelled. 

He ran toward the entrance, firing at the shuttle with a heavy rifle. The shuttle dipped low, beneath the door, losing its upper fin in a close shave. It bounced on the ground, slid, and came to a halt. The shield door boomed shut behind it. 

Leia grabbed a rifle and joined Poe, who blasted open the shuttle’s canopy. “Wait!” cried someone in the shuttle. “Don’t shoot!” 

“It’s us!” A pair of hands flew up in surrender. “Don’t shoot!”

Freya and Rose emerged from the shattered cockpit. 

“Freya! Rose!” Poe shouted happily. “You’re not dead!” He then narrowed his eyes. “Where’s my droid?” 

Leia lowered her rifle while Poe dropped his and hurried over to his friends. To his delight, BB-8 zoomed down the shuttle’s boarding ramp, beeping excitedly. Their reunion was a rare moment of happiness that Leia would’ve loved to prolong, if there weren’t other life and death factors involved. 

They had to prepare for war. And she had a message to send. 

“Alright,” Poe was heading up to the technicians that set up stations. “Shields are up so they can’t hurt us from orbit. Use all our power to broadcast a distress signal to the Outer Rim.” 

“Use my personal code,” Leia says and they look at her. “If there are any allies to the Resistance, it’s now or never.” 

Rose entered what was now deemed the control room, and Poe could see the helplessness that she wore on her face. “Rose, what have we got?” 

“Rotted munitions, rusted artillery, some half-hutted skim speeders.” 

“Well, let’s pray that big ass door holds long enough for us to get help.” Poe comments, resting his hands on his hips. 

On cue, a boom rattled the room which caused red dust to sprinkle down from the ceiling and the crystal foxes to bark and whimper. Freya headed over to the periscope and squinted for a glimpse outside the shield door. 

First Order gunships and troop transports were landing by the dozens on the salt flats outside. Gorilla walkers unfolded from their moorings on the sides of hunships, each step causing the ground to quake. Hovertanks floated down cargo ramps. What worried Freya the most was the appearance of a gargantuan superlaser barrel on rotating treads. 

“You gotta be kidding me,” she curses. “They have a battering ram cannon. It’ll crack this door of ours open like a damn egg for breakfast. Just like _that_.” She snaps her fingers and backs away to stare at Poe and Rose. “We’re the yolks that are going to be scrambled.” 

Rose looked around the mine’s entry chamber. Some of the crystal foxes had returned to watch them with tiny red eyes. “There has to be a back way out of here, right?” 

BB-8 zipped up to them, with C-3PO doing his best to keep up. Poe sees them. “BB-8, what you got?” 

“BB-8 has analyzed the mind schematics. This is the only way in or out, I’m afraid.” The golden protocol droid explains. 

Freya tried to game out the situation. They were safe from orbital bombardment at the present, since the fort’s deflector shield still worked. General Organa had also transmitted her distress message to potential allies, but it would take time for them to respond and send reinforcements. 

The walls shook. The army outside was advancing. Freya knew the band of Resistance soldiers who manned the fort’s outer trenches would put up a good fight, but they didn’t have the numbers or firepower to repel the attackers. Once those defenses were sufficiently weakened, the cannon would be charged and fired. The seismic force of its blast would blow a hole through the shield door, and then Stormtroopers would enter and slaughter them all. 

Freya saw the only one way they could buy time for potential reinforcements. “We have to take out that cannon.” She announces loudly and everyone faces her, seeing the determination in her eyes. “We need to fight back.” 

Rey saw stars. And lights. And more stars. 

But the stars in the viewport began to fade away, as did the lights on the console. Everything was fading, even the sound of her breathing, into a quiet, dark nothingness. 

“Rey, hey. Rey.” 

Jarred by the voice, she sat bolt upright in the cockpit of Snoke’s private ship. Finn stood at the doorway, his concern solely on her. He walked in, gently grabbing her hand into his and ran his thumb back and forth on top of hers to soothe her; to let her know that he was there with her. 

He just saved her, drawing her from what could have been a deadly slumber. 

All the cells in Rey’s body seemed to pulse in pain. The fight with Snoke, and Nova and Kylo had taken everything she had. When her sister and Kylo had fallen, she’d managed to retrieve the pieces of the Skywalker lightsaber with Finn’s help, dragging herself out and onto the turbolift. She had worked up just enough energy to set the autopilot and send a message to R2-D2 before crashing into the pilot’s chair. 

Alert now from Finn, Rey saw the shuttle had navigated through the smash up of Destroyers. Yet instead of an open starfield, another starship filled the viewport, one familiar. The Millennium Falcon. 

The console buzzed from an incoming signal. Finn opened a channel and Chewbacca’s arfs broke through the subspace static, asking if they were okay. 

Rey slipped out of her chair. “We’re alive, if that counts for something.” 

Finn sadly looked at her; he had felt her sadness through the Force when he was in the hangar and watching Freya and Rose. He knew that her face to face with Nova didn’t go as planned. His feeling was proved true when he ran into the throne room and began helping her in claiming the lightsaber only to have Nova join Kylo and creating that major blast of energy. 

Rey was wounded emotionally and physically, and she needed help. “Chewie, she’s going to need a medpac.” He tells the Wookie. 

A tube extended from the Falcon and docked with the shuttle. Finn helped Rey stagger through it onto the freighter. R2-D2 retracted the tube and closed the hatch. 

Finn opened a first aid locker and promptly jumped back. Four porgs tumbled out, landing on top of each other then righted themselves and waddled to another clutch. Finn looked around and noticed the stumpy avians were everywhere. They peeked out of the ventilation ducks, nibbled on coolant casings, and even hung upside down from the ceiling conduits. The Millennium Falcon had become a circus of porgs. 

He grabbed the medpac and headed directly over to Rey, patching her up. Over the porgs cooing and chirping, they heard R2-D2 beeping uncontrollably. 

“What’d you say?” Rey asks. 

The droid repeated the beeps at a volume that made Rey wince. But she understood the binary. While scanning the emergency bands, R2-D2 had picked up a distress call from General Organa. 

The Resistance had taken refuge on a nearby planet. And they were at death’s door. If they didn’t get help soon, the First Order would wipe them out for good. 

Alone on the ledge of her chute, Rose buckled herself in the skimmer. It was dangerous looking contraption , more akin to a podracer than a speeder, designed to slalom across flat surfaces with a long mono-ski. From each side of an open cockpit spread a delicate wing that ended in repulsor boosters. Rose had discovered a number of skimmers in the fort’s vehicle garage, and though most of them had been gutted for tech, some were in decent enough shape to operate. At the very least, they could give the team the necessary speed to execute Freya’s plan to take out the battering ram cannon. 

Once settled in the skimmer’s seat, Rose slid the goggles over her eyes. The batteries for the internal scopes had long since died, but the tinted lenses would prevent her from being blinded by Crait’s stark white surface. 

She took a breath, then leapt into the chute. 

The skimmer whipped down the tube, gathering speed. Rose revolved on the seat’s gimbal, her body spinning with the curves. She felt both giddy and dizzy all at once. Paige would have loved this. 

The cute opened ahead and she shot out of a hole in the shield door, soaring high in the air. Freya, Poe, C’ai Threnalli, and nine other pilots and soldiers ejected from the adjacent tubes on their own skimmers. They all dropped toward the ground as a pack, engaging their mono-skis. 

The thirteen skimmers landed in a spume of red as the mono-skis dug up crystals that lay beneath the salt. Scarlet clouds of crystal dust trailed them like exhaust fumes as they shot across the surface. Rose brought her skimmer alongside both Freya and Finn, with the other fanning out around them. 

“Okay, listen up! I don’t like these rustbuckets and I don’t like our odds.” A panel popped loose on Poe’s skimmer, sending his foot through the floor. He pulls it back up, venting his frustration over the comm. “Just keep it tight, and don’t get drawn in too close till they roll that cannon out front.”

The skimmers darted past the rebel fort’s trenches, which were manned by what remained of the Resistance army. TIE fighters crisscrossed above the skimmers while higher in the sky a black folded wing shuttle circled like a menacing predator. Rose could only guess it constrained someone of importance to the First Order. 

In the command shuttle, Hux turned to face Kylo and Nova who stared out at the viewport. “Thirteen incoming light crafts. Shall we hold until we clear them?” 

“No.” Kylo replies softly and Nova gazes upwards, noticing an expression on his face that she’s only ever seen once before. “The Resistance is in that mine. Push through.” 

“Alright, ground forces, lay down some fire!” Poe radioed to the trenches. 

The decrepit turbolaser towards and rusted artillery emplacements unloaded on the First Order’s advancing front line. The armor of the walker and tanks absorbed most of the shots, but the barrage provided cover for the skimmers to approach. 

Rose draped her necklace over the skimmer’s controls. It reminded her of why she was fighting—and what was worth dying for. If she could have an ounce of her sister’s courage, perhaps she could make an impact. 

Her courage was tested immediately. TIEs screamed over them, raining lasers. One of the skimmers fell away in a smear of red. 

At Poe’s command, the skimmers dispersed and the TIEs broke formation to follow. Rose skated across the flats, banking to the sides as a TIE chased her. The starfighter’s guns gouged dark red cracks in the ground. 

Rose possessed none of her sister’s skill in gunnery, and her potshots went nowhere. Poe and the trench batteries had better luck, and several TIEs went down in flames, including the one chasing her. Yet those losses didn’t out much of a dent in the enemy squadron. 

“We can’t match this firepower!” Threnalli yelled over the comm. 

“We’ve gotta hold them till they pull out the cannon!” Poe snapped back. 

More skimmers met their end, picked off by TIEs in succession. Their crashes gashed the ground as if the land itself bled. Worse yet, the defensive fire from the turbolaser batteries had all but stopped. TIEs swarmed over the trenches, spitting death at the Resistance soldiers and knocking out artillery. 

This battle was turning into a massacre. 

Rose looked at her medallion. She remembered her homeworld of Otomok, her friends in the Resistance, her sister. They were worth fighting for and they were also worth dying for. 

She gripped her control sticks and rocketed toward the front lines. 

“Rose! Behind you!” Freya cried out. 

She glanced back as a trio of TIEs dove at her skimmer. Their laser cannons glowed, about to be triggered. It was over for her. 

She flinched as all three TIEs were blasted from behind. 

A Corellian freighter, which looked as banged up as anything else from the fort, soared through the fiery wreckage. Rose gaped at the ship, barely keeping control of her skimmer. Had she just been saved by the Millennium Falcon? 

Inside the Falcon, Chewbacca let out a Wookie battle cry—one that was then mimicked by a porg sitting on the console in between him and Finn. Rey was in the lower turret, wheeling and firing at most of the TIEs. Another one exploded and she grins widely. 

“I like this!” She says through the comm, blasting yet another TIE. 

Finn smiled wide as he overheard her, piloting with Chewie to allow Rey to hit more of the First Order’s squadron. He then felt a disturbance, looking back to see all of the TIEs coming for them. “Oh, they _hate_ this ship.” 

The Falcon looped around and went right back at the TIEs, Rey blowing the wings and cockpits off two more. Like a school of gutterguppies, the TIEs veered in pursuit of the freighter that then made an abrupt drop in a crevice—a move that most of the TIEs failed in spectacular fashion. Some smashed into the surface, others into the sides of the crevice, and all went up in flames. 

“They drew them off! All of them!” Poe said over the comm. 

Rose smiled and refocused her attention on the front lines which started to open, closing ranks with the skimmers. “There it is,” she said, feeling the ground rumble. 

Two multi-legged tug walkers plodded forward, yoked to the battering ram cannon. Plated in dense armor, the mammoth siege gun that was dragged forward seemed even more imposing than Freya had described. It was about fifty meters tall, nearly half of the height of the shield door. 

“That is a big gun.” Rose swallows harshly.

“Our only shot is right down the throat.” Freya states. 

The cannon’s grooved head began to warm up, pulsing with the generic of its superlaser. To aim a shot down the giant barrel, they’d have to fly straight up to the cannon, which was going to be nearly impossible with the First Order forces protecting it. 

“The cannon’s opening. This is our chance.”

Kylo leaned over the console, peering out and kept his eyes on the skimmers. He felt himself getting uneasy, sweaty handed through his gloves. “Firepower on those speeders.” 

“Concentrate _all_ fire on the speeders!” Hux orders loudly and with more authority, him scowling while Kylo just gives him a rather bewildered look. 

Nova then dropped her gaze to the floor, feeling herself growing hurt by the certain order that Armitage called for. He didn’t want no survivors, no threat to the First Order whereas Kylo was willing to give them a fighting chance. 

A gentle hand places itself on her shoulder and she peers back, seeing Elsie’s gentle smile to try and make her feel better. But nothing could in the moment. Hux just ordered for death and destruction.

The turbolaser towers that had outlasted the TIEs renewed the assault. The walkers and hovertanks responded in kind, peppering the trenches with their guns. But when the black command shuttle dropped lower and started targeting the skimmers, the rest of the First Order’s forces did the same. 

Poe managed to evade the lasers, but the skimmer belonging to Nien Nunb didn’t. After the cloud from its crash cleared, he saw that the battering ram cannon held a steady, deadly glow. Two more skimmers met their demise. 

“They’re picking us all off. We’re not gonna make it.” 

“I’m making my final approach.” Freya tells him over the comm. “Target in sight, guns are hot.”

“No! Pull off.” Poe shakes his head. “The gun’s charged! It’s a suicide run! All craft pull away!” 

Rose inverted her skimmer, eluding another blast, and steered clear of the lasers, following Poe and the others back to the trenches. But Freya kept speeding toward the cannon. “I’m almost there, Poe!” She says over the comm. 

“Retreat, Freya! That’s an order!” Poe barked. 

Freya wasn’t listening. She sideslipped her skimmer through the cannon fire, dusting up more crystalline clouds. 

Rose knew than an errant blaster bolt was all it would take to cause her friend to crash and burn. “Freya, it’s too late!” She screamed into her headset. “Don’t do this!” 

“No!” The girl shouts back rather angrily. “I won’t let them win!”

“Freya, listen to Poe. We have to retreat—”

Freya ripped off her headset, adjusting her controls and accelerated toward the cannon. Its barrel shone through the lasers, on the cusp of firing. The tremendous heat it generated melted the salt around it, stirring a crimson haze around its treads. With the other skimmers no longer a threat, all the walkers and tanks were targeting Freya. 

“Commander Ren,” Elsie’s voice speaks. “I detect that it’s Freya Calrissian in that speeder. Heading right for the cannon.” 

_Freya._ Nova eyes grew wide. She used to be a Stormtrooper, one that was given the duty to watch over and protect her whenever they visited other planets. And on the last mission of Canto Bight, an explosion took place and Freya saved Nova at the very last second as the building toppled down on top of her. There were no signs of life in the wreckage and so it was decreed that she had died. That day, Nova believed that it had been her fault for being observant but Armitage told her that she had just been doing her job. That it was no one’s fault. 

But now it’s true that Freya’s alive and as quickly as she learned this, it was now about to be taken away from her. Freya was heading directly towards the cannon, about to sacrifice herself in order to protect the Resistance. 

Enemy fire pummeled Freya’s skimmer, blowing off pieces. Flames licked her cockpit but somehow her craft continued toward the cannon barrel, raising higher as her eyes filled with tears. She was taken from her family and she was conditioned to serve and take orders from the First Order, but today, she was rebelling against that. Today, she would take a stand and fight back for all of it. 

She closes her eyes, drawing closer and closer. The heat got too intense and began to make her sweat profusely. _Almost there_. 

Suddenly Rose hit her boosters, causing her skimmer to bank and roll off its mono-ski. One of her wings bashed into the ground and her cockpit skidded across the salt in a spray of red. 

The shot cost Rose control of her craft. She couldn’t see in the cloud of dust, and her skimmer spun on its mono-ski. There was a screech of metal, then her dashboard crumpled and her ribs crunched against the crash buckle. 

When she came to her senses, Freya held her in her arms. She realized she was hurt, yet she couldn’t feel any pain. The wreckage of their skimmers smoldered around them. 

Tears rummed Freya’s eyes. “Why would you do that? I was almost there. Why did you stop me?” 

She found the air to speak. “I _saved_ you, dummy.” Rose slightly smiled. “That’s how we’re gonna win. Not fighting what we hate, saving what we love.” 

Freya then understood and she no longer could be upset with her friend. They will not sacrifice their lives and they won’t descend to the level of the enemy. That was the difference between the Resistance and the First Order; they fought because you can love, not just because you hate. 

The cannon’s blast shook the world. Freya glanced over but Rose didn’t need to see the impact to know the shield door didn’t hold. 

Nor could she hold back her feelings. Once Freya turned back to her, she lifted her head and kissed the girl gently before slumping back and passing out in her ruined cockpit. 

“General Hux, advance,” Kylo found himself saying, almost lifeless as she stared at the shield door that was busted in and smoking from the cannon. “No quarter. No prisoners.” 

Nova reached for his hand, gripping it tightly as she stared at the left side of his face. There was something about him that she hasn’t even seen before. Remorse, and he wore it openly. It was a small change but very noticeable to her, to anyone else it’d appear to be resolve but not to Nova. 

She looks back out at the mine, sensing a great deal of sadness and she knew that Kylo felt it too. It was coming from his mother. 

Leia had never been so dismayed to see the sun. The light that streamed through the cracked shield door boded only doom. Soon Stormtroopers would flood into the fort by the thousands, and there wouldn’t be any reinforcements to save them. No one had replied to her distress signal. 

The First Order had won.” 

“We fought till the end,” Leia told those assembled in the fort’s small command center. “But the galaxy has lost its hope. The spark is out.” 

Faces fell, hers with them. Leia’s younger self, that fierce princess, would have berated her for giving such a speech. But she was older now, wiser, not blinded by the passions of youth. And she was tired. The relentlessness of war had worn her down. It seemed like no matter what she did, anything she ever loved the galaxy saw fit to take away. She had fought the good fight, yes, but in the end it hadn’t been enough. 

Perhaps that was the ultimate lesson of life. To love is to lose. 

Footsteps echoed in the cavern. Were the Stormtroopers here so soon? She lifted her head to see a man in tattered brown robes. 

Leia blinked a couple of times, fearing she was hallucinating. But if she was, it was a mass hallucination, because the Resistance officers in the command center shared her surprise. The man pulled back his hood, revealing the lined bearded face of her twin. 

“Luke . . .” She breathed. 

He nods, sitting down before her. 

“I know what you’re going to say,” Leia said with a slight smile. “I changed my hair.” 

“It looks nice that way,” he said with a smile of his own. 

She didn’t comment on his hair. It was shaggy and needed a scrub. But that had little bearing in the grand scheme of things. 

“Leia, I’m sorry.” 

There had been times over the years when Leia wanted to last out on him for disappearing when she, and the galaxy, needed him most. But she felt none of that anger now, and she was too exhausted to scold him. Just seeing her brother one last time was enough. 

“I know,” she said. “I know you are. I’m just glad you’re here, at the end.” 

They had entered life together as twins, and now, as twins, they would leave it. Yet the fact that he had rejoined Leia after so long stirred some embers inside her. 

“This is the end . . . isn’t it?” She asked. 

Luke’s eyes had a strange glint. “I came to face him, Leia. And I can’t save him.” 

Leia softly dropped her gaze, thinking about Rey’s sister Nova. She had awakened something inside of her son. Had given him the good memories of his childhood to stop him from blowing up the bridge on the Raddus, knowing he’ll be haunted by the sight for the rest of his life like how he was with Han. But the worst she feared became reality. Within the Force, she felt how Nova accepted to be at his side and rule the galaxy with him. 

“I held out hope for so long,” she shook her head. She believed Nova would be the one who’d ultimately bring her son home, she _saw_ it. But now, the future seemed foggy and desolate. Leia needed to face the truth. “My son is gone.” 

The glint in Luke’s eyes seemed even stranger. “No one’s ever really gone,” he said. 

That was the old Luke talking, the Luke she’d once known who could discern even the dimmest light in the darkest of hearts. He had found a way to redeem a man she never could—their father. Luke couldn’t save Ben, but he did believe someone else could. No, not someone else. A certain girl. The one that Leia had faith in, and it brought back her sense of being optimistic. A new hope. Her weariness drifting away as Luke placed his hand into hers, a tingle tracing into her body.

Suddenly Leia felt foolish. You can see the future within the Force but it was never one way. Things had to happen in order to get to the end result and with Nova joining Ben in being a leader of the First Order, that could only prove to be the first step in that direction. Luke was confident in it and so she would be too. 

In the cockpit of his command shuttle, Kylo Ren watched the First Order’s army march across the salt flats to the rebel fort. The battering ram cannon had punched through the shield door, where a sunbeam shone on the hole like a celestial spotlight. Everything was falling into place. He had destroyed his odious master, had the only person who’s ever cared for him right by his side, and now he would vanquish the Resistance because they won’t be going after just him anymore. They’d be after Nova, too. 

A long figure wearing dark robes emerged from the crack in the door. At first, he thought it was a Resistance messenger, coming to make a last ditch negotiation he’d never accept unless Nova pressed him to do so. But as the figured walked through the sunbeam, Kylo realized it was not a messenger, but his former master. 

“Stop!” 

General Hux seemed puzzled by the order but gestured to his officers in the cockpit that it be transmitted to all ground forces. The walkers, hovertanks, and Troopers came to a halt, still some distance from the fort. 

Nova stepped up to get a better look at the man, Elsie joining her and she slightly gasped. “Luke Skywalker . . .” The myth, the legend, before her very eyes. The man that redeemed Darth Vader, but not his own nephew. 

He strode across the red stained salt flats, his robes frayed and flapping, like some crazy beggar on a fool’s errand. The hundreds of Stormtroopers rifles, walker guns, and hovertank cannons pointed at him did not give him the slightest pause. He stopped below where the shuttle hovered, and with the wind whipping his unruly hair, he looked up at the cockpit and stared Kylo through the transparisteel canopy. 

Kylo trembled and immediately admonished himself for it. Why should he fear this madman? Skywalker was old and weak. His influence in the galaxy had faded like a burnt out star. But deep down, he knew it was because of that night. The night where he was almost killed in his sleep by his uncle. 

“Supreme Leader, shall we advance?” General Hux questioned. 

Kylo kept his gaze locked on Luke. “I want every gun we have to fire on that man.” When Hux hesitated, he snarled, “Do it.” 

Hux nodded and relayed the command. One trigger-happy gunner in an AT-M6 walker fired first, initiating a megacaliber barrage that enveloped Luke Skywalker in a column of fire. 

“More.” Kylo said, balling his hand up into a fist that Nova noticed as she glanced back at him. “More!” He barks. 

The shuttle opened fire, along with every gun below, making a crater where Luke stood.

His eyes were burning with the memory of his last night as a Jedi training. Seeing Luke’s green lightsaber hovering over him as he slept peacefully and him calling out to his hilt, blue blade igniting and blocking the green blade. His hand then reaching up and tumbling the hut in on them so he could escape. The last person he trusted to help him from the dark is the one who turned him to it, and how he wanted that man to suffer for pushing him into the comforting hands of the manipulative and abusive Supreme Leader Snoke. 

Nova gently strolls up to him, watching his glassy eyes and scarred face that was lighting up from the blasts outside. “Ben,” she tenderly speaks, unballing his hand with hers. “That’s enough. It’s okay.” 

When smoke and salt jeopardized their sensor arrays, Hux took over by storming to the front where Nova was previously standing. “Enough! That’s enough!” The officers frantically issued the order and the firing petered out. 

Kylo fell back into his commanding chair, breathing heavily as his mind began to speed up as he stared down at his feet. His mouth, his eyes were wet. He wasn’t able to bring himself to stare out at the destruction, just like all those years ago at the Jedi Temple. He was feeling rather guilty and he knew that Nova knew because just then, she brushed back a few strands of his hair that fell before his one eye. She then cupped his cheeks and tenderly placed a kiss on his forehead for a couple of seconds, a warmth spreading out through him which calmed his shaky bones and pulsing brain. 

Hux turned to face the two, but more so Kylo. “You think you got him?” He said sarcastically. 

Nova shot a glare at Armitage but her eyes then lingered over to Elsie who was staring out of the viewport. “Commander Ren . . .” 

An unnerving silence fell over the bridge. Kylo got back up, him and Nova heading up next to the cyborg and following her incredulous stare outside the shuttle. 

Luke Skywalker stepped out from the crater, showing no sign of injury. He swept dust off his robes and raised his eyes to meet Kylo’s again. 

He exhaled shakily. “Bring me down to him. Keep the door covered and don’t advance until I say.” 

“Supreme Leader, don’t be distracted,” Hux said, exasperated. “Our goal is to kill the Resistance. They’re helpless in the—”

Kylo waved his hand and Hux was tossed into the bulkhead. 

The shuttle commander nods. “Right away, sir.” He had the pilot land the ship on the battlefield. Kylo left the cockpit and went to the hatch while Nova followed from behind with Elsie. 

He ran his hand along his lightsaber hilt before he disembarked. Though he didn’t know what trick his former master might be pulling, when the opportunity presented itself, Kylo would strike him down once and for all. 

Luke waited for him on the battlefield, seeing Rey’s sister on the ramp, watching Kylo as he came to a stop only a few feet away from him. 

“Did you come back to say you forgive me?” He jeered. “To save my soul?” 

“No.” 

Luke’s bluntness came as no surprise to Kylo Ren. This was not the heroic Luke Skywalker whom everyone admired. This was the villainous Luke Skywalker who had tried to murder him in his sleep. 

In a swift motion, he shrugs off his cape and unhooks his lightsaber, activating it. 

Freya had stripped wire from her skimmer and corded the wire around Rose’s waist and her legs so she wouldn’t slip off the metal sheet she’d torn off the skimmer. The leftover wire she used to rope the skimmer’s laser barrels through the holes she’s punched into the side of the sheeting. She then lifted both barrel ends and started to pull Rose on her improvised sled. 

Reaching the mine, she shouted for a medpac and some soldiers came, taking Rose away on the sled and to the bunker. Freya then glanced out the crack in the door as Poe ran toward her. “What’s going on out there?” 

Poe peered into his quadnocs for a glimpse. Two figures confronted each other on the battlefield, one brandishing a red lightsaber, the other igniting a green blade. The man who held the green blade was indeed Luke, as he had though. The other, however, was the frutal friend who had tortured Poe on the Finalizer. “Kylo Ren. Luke’s facing him alone.” 

“We should help him,” Freya insisted. 

Poe turned from the quadnocs. The few able-bodies soldiers left looked at him for their new orders. They’d run back out there if he asked them. But Luke hadn’t asked for anyone’s help.

“He’s doing this for a reason.” A pause and then, it clicked. “He’s _stalling_ him so we can escape.” 

“Escape?” Freya’s jaw dropped. “Poe, he’s against an armada. We have to help him.” 

“No no. We are the spark that’ll light the fire that’ll burn the First Order down. Skywalker’s doing this so we can survive.” Poe then faces the Resistance soldiers, crew, Leia, BB-8, and C-3PO. “There has to be another way out of this mine. Hell, how’d he get in?” 

“Sir, it is possible that a natural, unmapped opening exists.” C-3PO lent his expertise. “But this facility is such a maze of endless tunnels that the odds of finding an exit are fifteen thousand four hundred twenty-eight—”

Poe shushed the droid. “Shut up.” 

“—to one.” He finished. 

Poe stared into one of the mine’s tunnels. He saw nothing in the darkness and, moreover, heard nothing. 

Freya voiced what Poe was thinking. “Where’d the crystal critters go?” 

There was something. A pair of red eyes blinking back at them. Then the fox scampered deeper into the tunnel, its spines tinkling. 

“Follow me,” Poe says. 

Everyone turned to General Organa as if waiting for an order. “What are you looking at me for? Follow him,” she said. 

She stepped behind Poe, the first to abide by his instructions. 

Rey swatted a porg away from the mapping scopes while Chewbacca glided the Falcon over a crystal glacier. More porgs fluttered around the cockpit but she ignored them, however Finn didn’t. Despite the rushing feeling that the both of them were feeling, Finn allowed himself to smile and chuckle at the porgs that he grew a liking too. A dot blinked steadily on the topographic readout, indicating that they were near the beacon linked to the one she wore on her wrist. Yet Crait’s surface was devoid of anything except salt and mineral deposits. 

“If the beacon’s right beneath us, they’ve got to be somewhere.” Rey told a discouraged R2-D2. The droid was jacked into the Falcon’s sensor systems and hadn’t detected any biological signatures other than the porg that had tried to build a nest atop his dome. “Keep scanning for life forms.” 

Rey wished she could reach out herself. But the fight had left her body bruised, her mind foggy. And her connection to the Force felt distant, out of tune, as if she had been stretched to her limits. However, Finn was taking on the mantle. 

He closed his eyes, sensing about and told Rey to follow the long gash in the surface to the mountain ridge. At the top of the ridge, there were fox-like creatures dashing out of the mountain in droves. The spines that covered their bodies glinted in the setting sunlike icicles. 

Chewbacca landed the Falcon, Rey and Finn running out. Rey wasn’t looking where she was going and fell, sliding down a slope but Finn harnessed the Force, saving her at the last second. She landed softly onto her feet, seeing the hole the foxes had emerged from was small, no bigger than the length of her hand. It wasn;t a crack in the mountain rock itself but, rather, a space between boulders that had been flushed together. 

Finn stepped up next to her, looking at the huge spheres. “Lifting rocks.” He commented. 

Jedi wisdom held that it was the masters who learned and the students who taught. As Luke faced his old pupil, he understood just how true that was. 

Anger swirled around his nephew like a cyclone. It was an anger spurred by distrust and disappointment, expectation and entitlement. Ben Solo had been a child born of privilege, son of a revered princess and a notorious scoundrel and gifted with remarkable aptitude in the Force. Nonetheless, given all those things, he wanted something of his own. A name. And he achieved it by rejecting his parents, his uncle, by embracing his anger and doing harm to himself and all those around him. 

In Kylo Ren, Luke saw the shadow of his own father as a young man—and what he himself could have become if he had not been allowed to grow up as a farm boy on Tatooine. 

The young man shifted his weight from one foot to another, his eyes sunken and dark. His gaze was fierce, daring Luke to make the first move. 

Luke did not let himself be lured. Patience was another lesson he’s learned hom his students. 

His nephew charged. Luke slipped out of the way and turned. Both rooted their feet and met the other’s stare. Drifting flakes of salt and ash sizzled on their blades. 

In the dark pools of his nephew’s eyes, Luke was struck by the sight of seeing Nova stepping down the command shuttle’s ramp even more. And for a brief second, the anger drained away from his nephew and was replaced with fear. Did he believe Luke would try and harm her? Yeah, he did. 

Kylo charges once again, double handing his hilt and swings extremely low at Luke’s torso but Luke bent himself backwards. The blade a few meters away from his face so he avoids it and flies out from under with a spin as Kylo pivots on his foot and strikes where his uncle previously was. Luke kneels in his stance, slowly extending his legs to stand once more.

“I failed you, Ben. I’m sorry.” 

“I’m sure you are. The Resistance is dead. The war is over. And when I kill you, I will have killed the last Jedi.” 

Luke looked past those dark eyes, into the Force. “Amazing. Every word of what you just said was wrong,” he said to Ben. “The Rebellion is reborn to today.” 

The Force showed him a vision of Rey and Finn, both of them stood at the bottom of a crevasse, meditating as he had taught them. Their hands rose, and so did a stack of boulders, loosening from a hole in the mountain. 

“The war is just beginning,” Luke said. 

Rey’s hand twitched and Finn’s breathing changed. Luke sensed how they knew he was there with them. He’d always be there. 

“And I will not be the last Jedi.” 

They open their eyes, seeing the boulders floating high in the sky while Poe, Freya, and Leia stand at the mouth of the tunnel. They stared at the two like they were the last beams of sunset. 

Luke softly smiled, the vision fading away as he focused back on his nephew. 

“I’ll destroy them, and you and all of it.” Kylo seethed. 

Luke then deactivated his green lightsaber, standing straight and shaking his head. “No. You won’t. Because of _her_.” 

He then hesitated, the anger leaving him once again. Kylo knew that his uncle was talking about Nova and he furrowed his brows. What exactly did he know of her? Surely nothing. No one could truly understand Nova, not even Rey, but he could. They had a connection, they were linked and nothing could ruin that. Not Snoke, not Rey, and certainly not Luke Skywalker. 

“You’re afraid of what you saw about her,” Luke started again. “You’re scared of what it means. But you’ve seen it, Ben.” 

Once more, the rage was building up in him. Kylo won’t let what he saw become true, as long as she’s with him, she’d never go down that path. He knew that for certain and hearing his fear being spoken aloud by Luke Skywalker, it set him on edge. 

“Strike me down in anger,” Luke starts, sensing his resentment, “and I’ll always be with you. Just like your father.” 

Kylo then lunged and swung at his master with all his strength, all his rage. His blade cut through nothing but air. Kylo turns, seeing Luke still standing and holds out his lightsaber, placing it right through his stomach to see him shimmer like a hologram; a phantom. 

“See you around kid,” Luke said then vanished. 

When he disappeared, Kylo’s eyes landed on Nova who now stood out on the battlefield and looked at him sadly as a squad of Troopers came to her side. 

Luke Skywalker sat on a ledge atop a lonely mountain, his legs crossed beneath him, his eyes closed. His mind was returning from another world, where he had fought a great battle, to reunite with his body that had remained on Ahch-To, still and silent. 

The mind was not limited by the body, nor the body by the mind. The body might even wither and die while the mind and the spirit survived. 

It had taken all his strength to do what he had done. The salt lines of tears on his face showed the incredible strain. Now that it was done, he could enjoy a few last breaths from the island that had been his home. 

Luke Skywalker was about to die. But it was something he accepted. Death was the way of all things, even the stars. He faced the twins suns, smiling at the orange glow it casted on the island and was brought back to him standing on Tatooine, looking to the horizon. Towards the future that would no longer hold him. 

With his last breath, his body faded from the stone, his mind faded into the Force, and his spirit went to walk the skies. And so passed the life of Luke Skywalker, but death would not be the end. His name, his deeds, his legend would live on, reenacted by scrawny stable boys brandishing broomsticks or dreamed about restless orphan girls who scavenged their barren homes for scraps of hope. 

The Resistance soldiers weren’t in the mines. The entrance chamber was empty, as was the command center. Kylo’s hand began to tremble, the Stormtroopers hurried away from him as he examined the antiquated command center consoles. 

Nova watched him and felt a ripple within the Force, heading back the one mind tunnel and trekked through fast to see light at the end. She headed for it, ending outside and peers up to see the Resistance boarding the Millennium Falcon as Rey stood on the ramp and ushered them in. Once the last one got boarded, Rey turned to press the hatch and halted, seeing her sister. Nova frowned and she knew that Rey was going to offer one last time so she shook her head sadly. There was no turning back from this and Rey frowned, feeling hurt but she understood which was a surprise yet a relief for Nova. 

She touched her black leather cuff, holding it tight and Rey mimicked her action, holding hers on the right hand before pushing the button to seal the hatch. 

Off the Falcon flew, Nova watching from down below as it exited the atmosphere and jumped to lightspeed. 

The hold was crowded with Resistance fighters and pilots. C-3PO was telling R2-D2 about the many indignities he’d endured since they separated on D’Qar, while BB-8 listened and clucked sympathetically. Poe and Freya were talking before Freya excused herself to check on Rose who laid on the medbed, injured but in a restful sleep. Freya scrounged the locker underneath it and pulled out a set of leather bound tomes that seemed to be very old, and Leia wondered how they had come onto the Falcon. Han hadn’t been a bookworm. 

Freya found a blanket and draped it over Rose. Leia noticed Rey and Finn, both holding the broken chrome pieces of the Skywalker lightsaber. She walked over to them with a warm smile and Rey returned the look briefly as a porg climbed upon Finn’s one shoulder. 

“Luke is gone, I felt it,” Rey informed Leia. “But it wasn’t sadness or pain. It was peace. And purpose.” 

“I felt it, too.” Leia has sensed Luke’s passing, but it hadn’t carried the shock of her husband’s death or the same weight of grief. Rather, Leia felt that he was, as Rey had said, at peace.

“How do we build a rebellion from this?” 

Leia took Rey’s hand. “We have everything we need.” 

It was true. The heroes around Leia had renewed her faith, and so had Luke. Without or without her, they would defend all that was good in the galaxy, as she had tried so hard to do herself. Her fight, her life, had not been in vain. 

For all things are possible in the Force. 


	18. Rite of Challenge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke Skywalker is dead. But the Jedi Master's sacrifice, as well as the sacrifices of many rebels, allowed what little remains of the noble Resistance to escape total annihilation at the hand of the evil First Order. General Armitage Hux will stop at nothing until the Resistance is crushed and the galaxy is subjugated. 
> 
> Now, General Leia Organa leads the last rebels—including Jedis in training Rey and Finn, and freedom fighters Poe Dameron, Rose Tico, Freya, and the droids C-3PO, R2-D2, and BB-8—in what could be their final stand. 
> 
> Meanwhile, Nova Hux is trying to make sense of her placement within the First Order and Supreme Leader Kylo Ren is searching, trying figuring out Nova's past as well as her eventual future.

The Tah’Nuhna have always been peaceful people, a race of scholars and thinkers. Their cities have been hewn out of volcanic glass over centuries, each generation adding to their ancestors’ work. Their astronomers have charted the cosmos. Their doctors discovered the cure for Iridian Plague. Their poets are studied in the finest universities across the galaxy. From the hundred year darkness to the rise of the Empire, the Tah’Nuhna have been kept out of the wars that divided the galaxy, until now. 

Armitage Hux was on the bridge of the lead Star Destroyer, eyeing the transmission of the leader of the Ice Planet of Tah’Nuhna. Her whiskers showing her age and her two dozen arms clasped in the universal sign for prayer. “Please do not do this, General Hux. The Tah’Nuhna are neutral! Not even the Empire ordered that invasion of our planet.” She begged. 

“A Resistance transmission was traced here, that does not seem very neutral as far as the First Order is concerned.”

“We . . . We welcome all travelers in need .. . It had always been our way.” 

“That always _was_ your way.” Hux corrects as his head tilted slightly forwards in a menacing manner, a tight sneer across her face. “And who said anything about invasion?” 

With a command from the general, the Star Destroyer fired down on the frozen world and Snowtroopers flew down in TIEs, making sure no one could escape the city. To leave no survivors behind. 

Unbeknownst to Hux, the leader hurried with her broadcast before it was too late. “To all those who can hear my voice Tah’Nuhna has fallen under attack by the First Order! We are in desperate need of assis—” 

A blast hit down, bursting the building and the ground behind their feet into nothing but flame and ceasing to exist. 

On the Resistance base camp of the garbage planet Anoat, Freya had run out with her emergency mask that filtered the air’s nasty toxins and into the command center. She pulls off her mask, finding Leia sitting in a chair near R2-D2 and C-3PO. “General Organa, I’m sorry to disturb you.” 

Leia felt her uneasiness. “You wouldn’t be out of breath if it weren’t important news, Freya.” 

“Just received a transmission from Tah’Nuhna. The First Order . . . They just wiped out the entire planet.” 

The golden protocol droid managed a shocked expression despite him not having any facial muscles. “That must be a mistake. The species is known across the sector for their neutrality. Why, they welcomed us when we needed supplies after our escape from Crait—”

“And they’ve paid the ultimate price for that kindness.” Leia shook her head. “As I watched the destruction of Alderaan, I swore that it wouldn’t happen again . . . but how many worlds have been destroyed by would-be conquerors since?” 

“Leia,” Freya begins softly. “You have done all that you could, and all we can do is protect as many of those who are still alive as we can.” 

“She’s right,” Rose steps up, her hair having grown out longer and placed into two small buns at the base of her neck. “We can’t afford to seek refuge in the refuse while others die.”

Lieutenant Connix was there, and she eyed the screens. “If the First Order tracked us to the Tah’Nuhna, won’t they just turn attention this way?” 

“Oh dear,” C-3PO utters, “that sounds ominous. Perhaps it is best to prepare an evacuation plan.”

When Leia had called for aid on Crait, sending out her distress signal to her allies, she was sure someone would respond. But they had not, and that fact still shook her. Were they alive? Was her signal being blocked? Or—the answer she least wanted to contemplate—did they just not care? No, she wouldn’t believe that. She couldn’t. Something had happened that prevented her calls from reaching friendly ears. That made more sense than believing she and the Resistance had been so thoroughly abandoned. She would figure out what went wrong, and until then, she would keep trying.

“No,” Leia stands, heading over to the main holodesk. “If we are going to win, we need more ships and people to fly them. Not to mention more weapons and more people to aim them.” 

“Just a little more patience, General Organa. We are attempting just that.” Commander D’Acy was working away adamantly. “Chewbacca and Cori Pryde are searching for a more permanent base. Snap Wexley and Karé Kun are leading a scout team to the most remote shipyards. Anya Khan and Poe are on a risky mission to gain allies with Black Squadron.” 

“Instead of just waiting around, I think it’s time for me to do something I should have done a while ago. Rose, Freya, prepare the Falcon with Threepio and Artoo.” 

“You want us to join you?” Rose asked, kinda shocked. 

“Yes, I need a mechanic and a good pilot, unless you two grown fond of the smells on this garbage planet.” 

No, they certainly had not. Leaving Crait, they had arrived on Anoat and been there for five weeks tops. Every day, the smells seemed to get worse and worse, like rotting food that had been left out in the rain and sun for days. At this point, any chance to leave the trash wasteland was an opportunity not passed up. 

“We’re also going to need Rey and Finn.” Leia quickly added after. 

Quarterstaff in hand, Rey whacked the large bear-like creature with horn protrusions from its head before her, breathing through her regulator mask and dawning her poncho. “Come on, is that the best you can do? I thought Anotian pit beasts were supposed to be dangerous.” She taunted. 

Just then, she Force jumps onto a pile of heaping garbage that wasn’t secure and gives away. She lost balance and fell through, landing onto her back, hitting the ground. The fearsome looking pit beast roared and brought down its mighty claw to strike but her body was yanked out of the way by Finn who was recovering from a devastating hit that he took from the beast himself. 

With the spur of time that he had given her, she called onto her staff and lodged the metal into the sharp jaws of the beasts as it crunched down on the metal. “I’m beginning to regret picking this fight!” 

“ _Now_ you are?!” Finn shouts back. 

Rey and Finn had been scavenging through the numerous piles of waste and junk for spare generator parts. She was keen on doing it alone but Finn was also persistent in them doing it together as a duo. Rey never admitted it but she was grateful for him and his determination to stick with her, it reminded her of how he came back for her over and over again. This was no different. There Finn was, recovering and coming back to make sure Rey was safe and out of harm’s way. 

The pit beasts clamps down on her staff, thrashing its head around and releases, Rey flying away and hitting the ground with a thud and cough. Hastily, she lifts her hand out to a pile of rubbish and it rumbles before a small section scatters and hits the creature with _tunks_! Jumping onto her feet, she runs and catapults herself off her quarterstaff over a wall of trash and lands nearby Finn. 

“Why am I having so much trouble focusing?” She asks aloud, to him and to herself. Ever since Crait, she realized that her fighting and Force skills haven’t been the best as they were. Perhaps it was learning that Nova decided to go with Kylo and not with her. Maybe it was Rey just believing that she couldn’t become a Jedi and help the Resistance. 

The beast was oncoming and Finn studied it for a moment. It was about eight feet tall, had four yellow eyes, and its skin was full of blisters—which were a side effect of what the toxic pollution had done to the local wildlife. “Maybe . . . if I can use the Force to make a mental connection with it . . .” His words falter and he lifts his hand, outstretched to the creature and focuses. 

Silence filled the air and when Finn opened his eyes, the pit beast went back to snarling and it roared angrily at the two young Force users. 

His arm retreats back. “Well, that didn’t work. How about we just call it a draw?” 

An engine filled the sky, the Millennium Falcon flying over and scaring the beast away. It touches down and the ramp ascends, Freya and Rose stepping out to eye the two dumpster divers as they drew closer to the freighter. 

“Are we interrupting something?” Rose calls up to them, waving with a small smile. 

“Must’ve just saved us,” Finn comments. 

Rey agrees and pauses as she sees Leia standing in the hold’s door, staring at them. “I assume we’re going on a mission? Are we going after a weapons cache?” 

“Not a mission. More of a solemn task.” Leia corrects and without any more words, the group loads themselves into the Falcon before exiting the atmosphere. 

Footsteps echoed across the Finalizer’s bridge and Hux recognized the pattern, turning to be met with Nova’s gaze. She was in a new garb style of black sashes, a dark grey tunic and silk pants, and had her old grey gauze wrappings accompanied with her black leather cuff on her left wrist. Her long brown hair was back in a ponytail, strands of her bangs framing her face as her eyes peered into his. 

_She’s changing_ , Hux thought, _but there’s still some Jakku there that she hasn’t let go._ But perhaps that wasn’t fair. Perhaps Nova simply clung to the simple things she knew in a sea of chaos, the way they all did.

“What the hell were _you_ thinking?” She sneers at him, part of her confused while the other was hurt beyond words. “Or were you just _not_ thinking at all? They were innocent, Armitage!” 

Pleased with himself and at the greater point of view at hand, General Hux took a parade stance and eyed her with dignity and authority. “They had helped the Resistance.” 

“Okay, but that doesn’t—” 

“It means they’re against us.” Hux states out, adding slight pauses between each word for emphasis. “The Resistance will do everything they can to bring down the First Order, it’s best to eliminate all threats and send the message to all other planets and systems that if they help the Resistance, they are our enemy.” 

Nova shook her head, looking off at the technicians to calm herself. “It wasn’t your call.” She whispers gently, but it was enough for Hux to hear. 

“Need I remind you, Ms. Hux, that now since Supreme Leader Snoke is dead, you’re the newest target for them. You, and your . . . _beau_.” Nova slowly gazes back at him at the mention of Kylo and his expression was of wry amusement. “I’m merely just doing what Snoke asked of me. I’m looking after you.” 

“Well I’ll relieve you of that duty.” 

“Why? Because your sister is with them?” Hux snorts, not even trying to disguise his annoyance and delight with her naive thinking. “Such childish belief. You sided with us, remember? You _chose_ us. Your loyalties lie with us, not with them. And certainly, not with your sister.” 

A broadcast began patching through and General Hux turned away from Nova, dealing with the call while Nova just stepped back and left without another word. 

Exiting the bridge, Elsie found her way directly to Nova’s side. Her deep brown eyes stare forwards as they walked through the corridors but the cyborg’s mind was solely focused on what Nova was feeling. The scavenger’s mind was lit up like a christmas tree in two specific regions; the amygdala which was responsible for experiencing emotions and the hippocampus which houses and creates memories. 

“Would you like for me to call Supreme Leader Ren for him to come back from his missi—” 

“It’s not necessary, Elsie.” Nova politely told her, scratching the side of her head for a moment as if she could itch her brain. “I think I’m just tired, that’s all. The last few weeks have been a dramatic change with Snoke’s funeral and Ben becoming the newest Supreme Leader . . .”

“And you become Commander Nova Hux.” 

She gives a curt nod. “Yeah.” 

Elsie sensed her emotional change, her mind wandering off to another thing and she picked up on it instantly.

“You’ve been having your bad dreams again, haven’t you?” 

“They’re not bad, they’re just . . . I can’t explain it.” 

They made it to the cafeteria, Nova getting herself a tray and grabbed for heartweed, muja fruit, and honey melon. And because she knew Elsie would scold her just for eating jelly fruit, she grabbed a slice of veg-meat and headed over to her normal spot to eat. 

Nova continued on with their conversation as she picked up the rubbery trapezoid slab of dehydrated vegetables. “I see my parents leaving me on Jakku but I’m able to put it on pause, to go up and visit them. I can see my mother but not my father, and when I ask why, he tells me it’s because I don’t want to know. Which is absurd. Why wouldn’t I want to know who my father is?” 

A quick look at Elsie told Nova that she either knew something or she was just completely uncomfortable with how the dream unfolded for the girl. Either way, Nova let it go and took a bite of her veg-meat and began eating the muja fruit. She began to wonder how Kylo was doing out there, on his very important trip that couldn’t wait a day, nor a second longer. 

In the Freeworld’s Territory of the Tapani sector, famous throughout the galaxy for its extensive orbital shipyards, Kylo stood on Fondor’s drydock before a man who was on his knees and stared up at him. The Knights of Ren circled the man, holding their various weapons as Kylo squats down and studied the man further. 

He gulps. “I have . . I have told you. We have done nothing wrong. A Resistance contingent passed through here, but we refused to assist them.” 

“So you admit that you have had contact with enemies of the First Order. Such an act of treason necessitates extreme measures. Effective immediately, the First Order will take control of the shipyards.” 

“But . . But Fondor has always been independently run! Even the Empire—”

“The Resistance is looking to replenish their lost ships and weapons. It is imperative they find none.” Kylo informs the man, standing up and withdrawing his lightsaber out. Without even asking, the Knights leave the room for the newest Supreme Leader to do his bidding and the man squeezes his eyes shut, waiting to be beheaded. 

Kylo waited, sensing that the Knights were out of range and deactivated his lightsaber, holding a hand out to the man and he shakily gazed back up at Kylo. 

“I’m not going to kill you, I made a promise to someone about a new order. Get up.” Wary but accepting, the man took his hand and stood on wobbling legs.

“So you’re . . you’re not going to kill me?” 

“No, I just needed them to believe I was going to.” Kylo hooked his lightsaber hilt back to his belt. “But I do need information from you.” 

“Yes, of course! Anything, Supreme Leader, sir.” 

He stepped closer to the man, his scar was now a faint red and pink line on his face which caught everyone’s eye nowadays since he no longer had his mask. “What do you know about a man named Cassius Palpatine?” 

“We’re almost there according to the navicomputer. Wherever ‘there’ is.” Freya comments, preparing the Falcon to exit hyperspace. 

“So, General, what exactly are we doing this for?” Finn asked, interested in where they were heading to. 

“Patience, Finn, we’re going to honor an old debt to an old friend.” 

Jumping out of lightspeed, the freighter was heading straight towards an oceanic planet and Rey recognized it from the old Imperial databanks she refurbished for barter back on Jakku. Mon Cala. 

They landed on Dac City, unloading themselves from the Falcon and Leia looked around for a moment and took it all in. 

“So many memories. I miss you, Ackbar, my friend.” She utters. “It’ll be good to be where we can feel safe and welcomed for a change.” 

Her words seemed to be taken away from her because a group of four Quarren and two Mon Calamari walked up to them. At the head was General Nossor Ri, a grizzled Quarren, with his fiercely isolationist advisor Chadkol Gee who was also a Quarren. He and the others held weapons, aiming them on Leia and company. 

“You shouldn’t have come after all you have done, General Organa. After all the death you brought to our waters. So tell us why we shouldn’t kill you where you stand.” 

Having been occupied by Imperial forces three decades ago, many Quarren and Mon Calamari didn’t want to get drawn into another war and Leia really couldn’t blame them after hearing what happened to the Tah’Nuhna. 

On the quick draw, Rose pulled out her blaster. “Don’t you dare threaten General Organa! This planet wouldn’t still be here if not for her!” 

“I should gut you!” Chadkol angrily shouts at the mechanic. “If not for your general, my family would not have been tortured and killed under the yoke of Imperial oppression!” 

General Nossor Ri then spoke, “Easy, Chadkol. It’s for the king to decide who to gut.” 

“Best to drown them now and save him the trouble.” 

Fluidly, Rey whooshed the end of her quarterstaff into his face which made his eyes grow wide in size. “You are welcome to try.” 

“That’s no way to treat an honored guest and war hero.” The son of Admiral Ackbar came walking up to the large crowding group. “Try to drown them and it’s you who will be fed to the fishes. The big kind, with many teeth.”

Chadkol scowled at him. “Just because you’re the son of a war hero does not make you one yourself.” 

“And being the descendant of traitors doesn’t make you a traitor . . . _necessarily_.” He shot back. 

“Bah, watch your mouth, boy. You are swimming in depths above your head.”

Chadkol leads the group away and Leia smiles, giving a hug to the young boy. “It’s so good to see you, Aftab. You have grown so much since I last saw you.” 

“It is good to see you as well, General. Though I fear others on Mon Cala do not feel the same. What brings you to these troubled waters?” 

“I came to honor your father.” 

Down to the Mourning Shrines Leia went with Aftab in a seascape diving suit, seeing a huge statue of him underwater while the others were behind them in a submersible. She felt so disheartened, remembering their final moments together on the bridge of the Raddus before one of the TIEs blew them up and she was sensing her son, and Nova. How it seemed years ago but in fact, was only a month. 

“Your father would be proud of who you’ve become.” She tells him. 

“My father had maybe seen me once since my spawning. His focus was elsewhere but I knew him. I studied every battle and victory. I understand you were with him when he died.” 

“Yes. Admiral Ackbar was a hero until the very end. I only wish I could have brought his body home.” 

“My father’s remains may have been lost in the cold vacuum of space but I believe his soul is here. So, while I humbly thank you for coming here, you didn’t have to travel so far to visit a shrine.” 

Leia then shook her head. “With respect,” she started to say as she focused on him through her mask. “That’s not what I meant when I said I’m here to honor your father.” 

Rey watched Leia and Aftab Ackbar speaking and she brought her legs up to her chest, hugging her knees tightly and frowned. So much was going through her mind and before she knew it, she began speaking out loud to everyone inside of the submersible. 

“Here we are at the bottom of an ocean on a planet on the other end of the rim from the real action. Just lovely.” 

“Perhaps General Organa had realized that discretion might be the wisest course of action.” C-3PO offered up. 

“You may be fluent in over seven million forms of communication, but you still manage to say the exact wrong thing surprisingly often.” Rey mumbled and Finn placed his arm around her, shifting her into his side and she molds into his side happily. 

“Well, I was merely trying to—” 

“I think she means that she and I, we’re supposed to be the last links to the Jedi. And yet, we’re here while planets are being infiltrated by the First Order, Threepio.” Finn says humbly and the golden droid nods in acknowledgment. 

Finn looks forwards, seeing Leia swimming up to the vessel and he presses on the comm in order to hear her speak. “I’m going to visit King Ech-Char to see him about giving us ships and pilots. You all can return to the ship. If too many outsiders enter the chamber, it could set the wrong tone.” 

“You shouldn’t go alone.” Rey comments. “They were pointing blasters at us an hour ago. Why am I or Finn here if not to protect you?” 

“Rey, these aren’t thugs with blasters. They’re politicians—they’re much more dangerous. But don’t worry, I know how to handle them.” 

Manning the submarine, Freya began steering it back up to the surface while Leia and Aftab swam to the room where the king resided. 

Inside of the room stood many politicians that Leia Organa had come to know and learn from from Admiral Ackbar. Chadkol was there along with Nossor Ri, Leia noted as she made her way up to the king and nodded her head in manner of greeting him and his royalty. Something her youth had taught her and bestowed upon her own existence from being the Princess of Aldderan. 

“Your majesty, King Ech-Char, it is an honor to be received for an audience.” 

“Please, speak to the point, for I have much business of state to attend to.” He spoke in small breaths, him being hooked up to a machine to help him breathe through his gills. 

“Unfortunately, your highness, war is coming even to Mon Cala and it will swamp all other business of state. Over thirty years ago, your ancestor, Lee-Char, stood against the tide of Imperial repression. He sacrificed much to—”

“You dare speak of sacrifice?” General Nossor Ri spoke out against her. “We endured those times, tortured and imprisoned under the orders of your own father, Darth Vader. The Mon Calamari and Quarren gave everything to your cause!” 

She stares at him wholeheartedly. “That is something we share in common, General Nossor. I’m asking you to trust me again. The Resistance is in dire need of ships, just as the Rebellion once was. The shadow that’s falling across the galaxy will fall even to the deepest depths of Mon Cala’s oceans.” 

“The Resistance is the one that will bring that shadow down upon us.” 

“General Organa,” Ech-Char pipes up and motions around the Royal Throne Chamber. “You ask a lot of a people still nursing decades-old wounds. We will adjourn until tomorrow.” 

Salty mist flies up over the side and rains down on the Falcon and on the supplies that Rey, Rose and Finn were loading up. They were simple things that Aftab told them that they could take and that they wouldn’t miss, such as blankets, canteens, fabrics for clothes, jackets, pants, and even some ration packets for the road. 

“Everything is getting wet from the sea spray.” Rey groans, her clothes getting wet from her having taken off her poncho. “I can’t wait to get off this planet and back onto a world with drier land.” 

“Cheer up, Rey.” Rose smiles, sitting down her box near the ramp of the freighter so Freya could load it in easily. “I have a feeling Leia has already won over the people of Mon Cala to our cause.” 

Suddenly, a huge group of Quarren came out with melee weapons, angry eyes on the four travelers. “You were warned to leave, off-worlders!” They demanded, sneering and gripping their instruments tightly. 

“You were saying Rose?” Rey eyes her, dropping the box down and eyed the men. There were ten of them, and she could see a few more running after. Thirteen in total. 

Finn, being the mediator that he was, he stepped forwards with his hands raised in surrender to show that he posed no threat. “We don’t want any trouble. We’re on a diplomatic mission.” 

“Finn, they don’t seem to be in the mood to be very diplomatic.” Rey raises her hand out to her staff and it flies directly into her hand with a _clunk_. 

The one in front tries to swing down on Rey with his metal bat but she blocks it with her staff and swivels with her top half, shifting the bat off to the side and whacking the Quarren in the face with a powerful swing. She then kneels down, going for his legs and knocks them out from underneath him. 

Rose ducked down in front of one of the storage containers which helped block her assailant’s hit, ripping out her stun gun from her pocket and running out from under the metal rod of the Quarren’s. 

“General Organa is not going to be happy about this!” She whips around, seeing the man preparing another run and charge at her. “She’s _definitely_ not going to be happy.” On his running strike, she lodged her arm out into his neck, pressing her button and zapped the creature violently to subdue him. 

“I think she’ll make an exception this one time!” Finn calls out to Rose and blocks hits with his hands and arms, thankful that he was wearing a padded jacket. Sensing another coming up behind him to seek a cheap shot, he watched as the one in front of him brought back his elbow to punch him. He dipped down at the last second, the Quarren punching the other and the other whacking the one in the head; both getting knocked out from one another. 

Being ganged up on by three Quarren, Rey crouches down and throws up her quarterstaff, harnessing the Force and using it to spin the staff around ferociously to hit and disarm them all. As they fall, she catches it and stands, adjusting her grip and begins fending off the others that came her way. 

High in the sky, a holocam droid raises and shoots the fighting. The feed plays for Chadkol Gee who stands in the office of the palace and calls in for an order. “Open a secure communication line to the code I provided you.” He tells a technician over his shoulder. 

“But sir, General Nossor Ri expressly—” 

“Do it now or I will feed your carcass to cavern eels.” 

The technician worked right away and the feed of the fight was cut off, being replaced by a holo display of General Armitage Hux. He looked annoyed, eyeing the Quarren with disdain. 

“There had better be an important reason to reach out to me directly. I do not forgive the waste of my time easily.” 

“Oh, I believe you will want to hear this, General Hux. I believe this could be of great importance to the First Order.” 

Suralinda Javos was drunk. Or at least Poe was fairly certain that Black Squadron’s Squamatan pilot was drunk. Why else would she be up on that stage doing . . . well, he wasn’t exactly sure what she was doing. Poe shook his head. He loved Black Squadron. Would die for any one of his pilots. But sometimes he wondered.

When Prime Minister Grist had invited Black Squadron for a celebratory drink to toast their victory in securing Grail City against the First Order, it had been politic to accept. He knew his job here was part pilot and part diplomat, and anything he could do to secure Ikkrukk’s support of the Resistance was something he had to do.

“Shouldn’t they be happy enough that we saved their butts from the bad guys?” Anya grumbled when Poe told Black Squadron that they’d be going to a party.

“Don’t you like a party, _Onion_?” Suralinda asked, laughing as she uses her nickname for Anya. “I mean, I can’t think of a better reason to have a drink than survival. Besides, I’d love to get a quote or something from the prime minister, something I can use to really make the story sing.”

“You’re writing a story?” Poe asked, surprised.

“Of course I’m writing a story,” the pilot-turned-journalist-turned-back-to-pilot said. She shook her head, her brown eyes set in mock disappointment. “When are you going to get the hang of this public relations thing, Poe? My journalistic skills are an asset to the Resistance, but only if we get our story out there. And what a story it will be with Grist praising our ragtag group of heroes saving her and the planet from the evil First Order!”

Ragtag? After Crait, that was closer to reality than Poe cared to admit.

“That’s not a story. That’s just the truth,” Anya said. Poe looked at her sharply, wondering if she knew how bad things were for the Resistance, but his fellow pilot was guileless. She had been on Kijimi visiting her adoptive family when they’d lost everything, when the Battle of Crait happened. He couldn’t hold it against her. 

“Of course it’s the truth,” Suralinda said, sounding annoyed. “I don’t lie, Onion. I just”—Suralinda waved a hand, as if conjuring something out of thin air—“embellish.”

Anya folded her arms across her chest and let her long brown hair fall across her face, unimpressed. Poe had noticed that her and Suralinda’s friendship was often strained, but if he thought about it, it was no more contentious than anyone else’s relationship with Suralinda. She was an old friend of Poe’s from his navy days, but she was hard to pin down even at the best of times. Her loyalties seemed to shift and eventually land right back on Suralinda alone, but he couldn’t deny that she had been there for him and Black Squadron when they most needed her, including right here at Grail City. 

“So,” Suralinda said, hands on her hips. “Who’s up for a party? Poe?” 

“I kind of have to. It would be rude not to . . .”

“Exactly!” She slid her arm around Poe’s and pulled him along before she looked over her shoulder at the other member of Black Squadron. “Jess? Care to join us?” 

“Lead the way. I wouldn’t mind a drink. And I hear Ikkrukk makes a great ale.” She comments happily.

Anya squinted at the sight at Suralinda and her arm looped around Poe’s and tisked. “You know, maybe I will go. BB-8, would you like to go, too? Or are you going to stay and keep an eye on the ships for us?” She stares down at Poe’s orange and white astromech. 

The little droid beeped his reply; he was staying with the other astromechs. 

Suralinda smiled big enough to show her needlesharp teeth, which were as much a part of her Squamatan heritage as her blue skin and taloned nails. “Great. We’ll have fun and we’ll get some information. It’ll be a win-win.”

BB-8 waved them away and the four of them headed to the palace where Prime Minister Grist of Ikkrukk waited for them.

That had been an hour ago. 

Poe had politely nursed an Ikkrukk ale for that hour. He’d taken a single sip under the prime minister’s watchful eye. The dark bitter brew had sat like engine fuel on his tongue, but he’d managed to swallow it down without a telltale grimace. He’d then proceeded to circulate through the party, engaging in small talk with the guests, looking for the signs Leia had told him would reveal loyalties and uncover motivations. He made mental notes as he moved among the civic leaders and politicians, and what he saw worried him. There was doubt here, fear that perhaps fighting back had only doomed Ikkrukk to a more brutal invasion in the future. That perhaps First Order occupation wouldn’t be so terrible, that cooperation was a more viable strategy than war, and that maybe there was even financial profit in joining the First Order. 

Poe held his tongue through it all, but inside he wanted to scream. Black Squadron had risked their lives to save this city, this planet, and now Grail City was questioning whether it had been the right thing to do. He wanted to shout that they were cowards, all of them, ready to bow down to the First Order to save their own tails and line their already well-lined pockets without a concern for what occupation would do to the average citizen on the street. He wanted to warn them that occupation might seem reasonable now, but if they allowed the First Order to establish itself on the planet, the grip that began as loose would inevitably tighten until Ikkrukk was choking.

But he didn’t. Instead, he circled back around to the prime minister. 

“Are you enjoying the party?” Prime Minister Grist asked politely, a dour eye on Poe’s almost untouched ale.

Poe gave up all pretenses of drinking, handing the glass off to a passing server. “I was hoping we could talk about Ikkrukk’s promise to aid the Resistance.”

“Promise?” Grist said, voice fluttering in distress. “I don’t recall a promise.”

Poe pressed his lips together. When he had first talked to Grist fresh off Black Squadron bringing down the First Order ship that had threatened to obliterate Grail City, she had indeed made promises about doing whatever she could to aid the Resistance. But now, a few hours later and her city out of immediate danger, it appeared her memory was conveniently failing her. 

“It’s not that we don’t want to help,” Grist said, sounding regretful. “We are grateful, and we wish we could do more to show our appreciation for your cause. But my engineers have reported substantial damage not only to our defense system but also within the city itself. It seems the First Order sympathizers tried to destroy as many cultural centers as they could before they were defeated. It’s imperative we rebuild immediately, so that people understand the First Order cannot beat us. You understand.” 

“I don’t think I do,” Poe said, a touch of anger in his voice. He wondered if he should mention that the routing of First Order sympathizers might need to continue within her own cabinet but decided that wouldn’t win him any points. He was trying to be diplomatic. Well, as close to diplomatic as he could manage. He had never been known for his tact. 

The prime minister’s golden eyes faded around the edges. “Oh dear.”

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate your situation,” Poe said, doing his best to rein in his irritation. “But you have to understand the urgency of _our_ situation.”

“Of course I understand, and I can promise you that the First Order will find no purchase here.”

“Are you sure of that?” It was out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

Grist blinked. She took a moment, as if to reset her own temper, before she said, “Yes, I am certain. But we simply cannot actively support the Resistance. We are already a target for First Order occupation. I don’t dare give them more cause to return. However, in appreciation for your efforts on our behalf, I am happy to provide you with fuel and food, enough to see you on your way.” Grist’s well managed smile was brittle. 

And there it was. The dismissal. Poe knew a lost cause when he saw one, and while he usually took on more than his share of lost causes, Ikkrukk didn’t feel like one he was interested in fighting for. He made noises about being grateful and excused himself from the hopeless conversation, more disturbed than he let show. He couldn’t help but worry. If a planet fresh from a First Order attack was this reluctant to take a chance to aid Leia’s Resistance, what would a planet that hadn’t seen the violence up close think? Maybe Suralinda and her ragtag-hero story did have a point beyond embarrassing them all. He’d have to talk to her about it more, see how maybe they could get the news out on the holofeeds, past the political gatekeepers and into the eyes and hearts of the common people. But first, he had his own news to share with his squad. He’d been putting it off long enough. 

He found Anya and Jess in a corner, sitting across from each other on benches and he sat right next to Anya. Sinking into the cushions, he shifted his weight back and forth in an effort to get comfortable but only succeeded in working his way deeper into the doughy seating.

“They do like a good pillow here,” Jess said, laughing. All the furniture in the prime minister’s cave palace was carved from the same rock as the walls that surrounded them, from the low flat benches to the equally low tables. It seemed to be the fashion here to soften all that hardness with rich fabrics, so the palace was adorned with wide swaths of embroidered shimmersilks and wildly colorful paintings on the rock walls themselves. Cushions in a riot of colors were piled two or more deep on every seat.

“No kidding,” Poe said. “I feel like I’m sinking.”

“It’s kind of nice after sitting in a pilot’s seat all the time,” Anya countered. “Nobody designed an X-wing for comfort, that’s for sure.”

Frustrated, Poe pulled the cushion off his side of the bench and dumped it on the floor at his feet, revealing the hard stone beneath. He sat on the bare rock. “That’s better.”

Jess and Anya laughed and Poe grinned back. He looked at his friends but more so at Anya, with a deep fondness. “I’m glad you both are here,” he said, his voice earnest. “I mean it. It was close up there . . .”

“It’s always close,” Jess said.

“How’d the talk with the prime minister go?” Anya asked, leaning towards him.

“Worse than expected,” he admitted. “I don’t think the Resistance is going to find support here.”

“After we saved them?”

Poe shrugged, a wave of resignation rolling over him. “Not everyone sees it that way.”

“They’re scared,” Jess said, “of the First Order.”

“We’re all scared,” Anya replied, softly. “But we fight anyway.”

Poe pressed his palms together, suddenly feeling anxious. He knew he had to tell Anya, Jess, and the rest of Black Squadron what had happened on Crait, what was left of the Resistance, and the part he had played in it all, but he wasn’t looking forward to it.

He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. He looked each of his friends in the eye, not sure how they were going to take the news, but knowing it was more important than ever that they understood what they were up against. What they were all up against. “You know who Vice Admiral Holdo is, right? Well—” 

A screech that rattled the walls pulled him up short. The three turned to see Suralinda front and center on a raised dais that functioned as a stage. The prime minister had given a reasonably laudatory speech about Black Squadron’s rescue of Grail City from the dais when they’d first arrived and then ceded the spot to a three-piece band. They’d been playing some kind of innocuous background party music all night, until now. A deep thumping bass emanated from a flat drumlike instrument that the musician stomped with a foot, and a sonorous wind instrument of some kind joined in, lacing the melody around the heavy beat. And then . . . Suralinda. 

“What in the world is that noise?” Anya asked. 

Jess had instinctively clapped her hands over her ears. “I-I think she’s . . . singing?” 

They listened a bit longer and sure enough, Poe could make out words in between the shrill trills and warbles. Poe had visited a lot of worlds and seen a lot of unsavory things, even done a few himself, but seeing Suralinda belting out a tune had to rank up there with the worst.

“Is she drunk?” He asked anyone who was listening. “I mean, she has to be drunk.”

Jess shook her head. “No, I think that’s just her singing voice. Squamatans aren’t known for their musicality.”

Suralinda raised her hands over her head and kicked out a long leg. She swayed her hips to one side and then the next and then came up on her toes.

“Or their dancing,” Jess added drily.

“And that’s our cue.” Poe stood up. “Time for Black Squadron to make our exit. We’ve got another mission, and it doesn’t involve attending this party or, mercifully, Suralinda singing and dancing. You both ready to get out of here?”

Anya and Jess were on their feet immediately.

“Seriously, Poe,” Anya said. “I thought you’d never ask.”

They waited until Suralinda had finished her mercifully short rendition of whatever song she was crooning to leave. Black Squadron departed to a round of surprisingly enthusiastic applause, for their heroism or for removing Suralinda from the stage, Poe wasn’t sure, but he took a deep and refreshing breath of fresh air once they were out of the palace. 

“Not your scene?” Anya asked, standing next to her commanding officer. 

Poe shivered. It was colder out here in the rocky mountains after the sunset. Beyond them was a wide expanse of starry sky. Somewhere out there was Leia and what was left of the Resistance, and they were counting on him. 

“I love a party,” Poe said, gently slapping Anya on the shoulder, “but we’ve got work to do. Let’s get back to BB-8 and the ships and I’ll fill everyone in.” 

Anya nodded and they all retraced their steps down the winding mountain path to their ships. Suralinda was in a fine mood and kept the chatter up with Jess, who seemed to be taking the whole night in stride. Around them Grail City was celebrating, and music and laughter filled the night. Colorful lights spilled from windows, and the smell of roasting meats wafted down to make their mouths water. 

“It’s a nice place,” Anya said quietly. “I’m glad we could help them out.” 

“Yeah,” Poe said, but he wondered how long Grail City would remain a nice place and how long it would take the First Order to try again. And if they did, whether Grail City would fight them or welcome them in. He thought about pressing his case, even trying to force Grist’s hand for the sake of her city. But he knew where that path probably led, and he wouldn’t do that again. He shivered involuntarily. Well, it was Prime Minister Grist’s problem now. He just hoped she was up to the challenge. 

In the Court of Justice of Dac City, Rey, Rose, and Finn stood in air pods, their arms in restraints while Leia was still in the seaspace diving suit, standing before King Ech-Char with Aftab Ackbar. “Starting a brawl was not the best choice in the middle of a delicate negotiation.” 

“I hope it’s not too late to apologize.” 

“That may not be enough to satisfy the King, Rose.” Leia tells her. 

Rey then spoke up casually. “I think she meant apologize to you, General Organa—”

“All hail King Ech-Char, who will judge your fate!” A Quarren speaks who was draped in robes. 

Leia side eyes her small group. “Just try not to start any more crises in the next few moments.” 

“General Organa,” Ech-Char coughs, “we have received you politely because of the history you have with our people.” He coughs once again. “But your people have gone too far.” 

The Quarren in robes then faces him. “With respect, my liege, Mon Cala cannot afford to be blinded by nostalgia! These off-worlders have shown themselves a danger, launching an unprovoked attack on our citizens!” 

“With all due respect, your grace, we didn’t launch the attack—” Rey started to say. 

Rose dropped her head low. “Oh, this isn’t going to help . . .” She whispers. 

Leia spun to face the girl. “Which part of not starting any more crisis was not clear, Rey?” 

“Well, she’s right.” Finn defended her, speaking loudly for everyone to hear. “A mob was coming for us and we had to defend ourselves in order not to get hurt.” 

Aftab took in Finn’s words, acting on them. “Perhaps the esteemed General Nossor Ri can explain that. The gang was of his supporters, and it’s quite uncanny how they just so happened to be gathering on the platform where our guests’ ship is docked. For someone who worries so much about keeping the peace, he associates, with some violent—”

The robed Quarren leans over and eyes the young Mon Calamari. “Careful of your testimony, hatchling. Even your father, Admiral Ackbar knew enough to show me respect.” 

“My father died fighting the First Order. I doubt he would respect hiding in the depths, hoping their armada passes.” 

The man then points to his face, pointing out his scars to the lad. “The Imperial interrogators looked a lot different up close than in your holos, you ignorant fishling!” 

“Enough, please!” Leia shouts and raises her hands to bring attention to herself. “Fighting amongst ourselves is exactly what the First Order wants. Only by working together can we keep the galaxy free of the kind of tyranny that the Mon Calamari and the Quarren so bravely fought against decades ago!” 

Chadkol Gee eyed Leia Organa, thinking about it long and hard. “Perhaps General Organa is right, King Ech-Char. Perhaps it is pointless to keep arguing when we could settle this debate by the ancient Rite of Challenge.” 

“But . . . Chadkol . . . That is a barbaric custom that hasn’t been invoked in centuries . . .”

“What’s the ancient Rite of Challenge?” Rey questions, confused. 

Finn took on the answer, using his ex-Stormtrooper knowledge. “It’s a fight to the death where the remains of the loser are fed to schools of razor-mawed krakanas.” 

Rey gazes up at the king, lifting her cuffed wrists. “Free my friends and I’ll accept the challenge!” 

“What?!” Finn was bewildered. “No, Rey! You can’t—”

“We don’t have the time for endless debate. This is the fastest way to clear our names and maybe win the Mon Calamari over to our cause!” She eyes him sympathetically. 

“Rey,” he begins to try and talk sense into her, his heart racing. “You can’t back out of this sort of thing.” 

“I am not going to let you, or them, suffer while I can do something about it, Finn.” She then softly smiles. “Besides, I can easily take down that puffed up blowhard.” 

“I’m afraid there’s been a misunderstanding.” Chadkol announces and Rey eyes him, her smile faltering. “ _I_ won’t be your opponent in the Rite of Challenge.

Just then, a huge aqua droid standing at 9 feet was pointed out to her. It had grey colored plating, boasting a massive chest with ridged shoulders, elongated legs, a polygon shaped head which could be retracted into the droid's body to reduce drag while swimming, and a set of feet that could switch between a standard walking stance on land or fold into propellers underwater. 

“My personal security droid, Arkay-Nine, will be fighting as my champion. Isn’t it beautiful? A rebuilt relic from the Battle of Mon Cala all those years ago, a reminder of when our people were dragged into a different war.” 

Nova was in her quarters, eyeing the many pieces of Kylo’s broken helmet and made them float with a flick of her finger. They hover before her, all warped and bent but the broken edges showed her where they once fit; like puzzle pieces. As much as she enjoyed seeing his face, she wondered if he ever missed the helmet and how it helped him hide who he was. 

He had been gone for three days and she missed him dearly, thinking about him whenever she didn’t mean to and she also pondered if he could feel her envisioning him and what he was doing, what he was thinking. With him gone, Armitage maintained command and she was slightly annoyed by it but she returned the favor by cracking jokes to him every so often during their little meetings with the other generals from other First Order ships. 

A knock on her door sounds and she controls the pieces to drop back into the bag that held the contents of the mask and places it under her bed where no one would fit it and heads to her door. 

Elise stood there, a worried expression on her face. “Commander Hux, I’m afraid to tell you that we’re heading to Mon Cala.” 

Nova could help but crack an amused smile. “And why would you be afraid to tell me that?” 

“Because sightings of the Resistance have been spotted, and . . .” she manages a gulp, her eyes growing wider in size and Nova furrowed her brows. She expected that Armitage would want to blow up the ocean planet like how he did earlier this morning with the ice planet of Tah’Nuhna, but there was something that Elsie just could not get out of her mouth for the life of her. 

“And what?”

“Rey’s there. With Finn.” 

Nova’s blood then ran ice cold and she slipped past Elise, outstretching her hand behind her to call on her hilt that flung into her palm with smack and with the flick of her wrist, the door slammed shut.


	19. Arrogance

The X-wings, Suralinda’s A-wing, and Poe’s loaner from Grakkus the Hutt huddled together on the open landing strip, shadowy masses in the growing darkness. Poe’s keen eyes scanned the area, the Black Squadron all had fallen asleep from their night out. All were countered for, except for one. Anya. He got up, roaming around for the missing pilot. 

He caught sight of her, apparently napping between the boxes of food rations and fuel cells that Grist’s people had already delivered. _Well, at least Ikkrukk kept their word about that_ , he thought, _and quickly_. Grist really did want them gone. 

“Hey, An,” he called, as he approached. 

No answer, and he tapped on a nearby crate with his shoe. Her grey-green eyes instantly popped open and for a moment, she looked terrified. 

Poe stepped back, surprised. “You okay?”

“Oh.” She sat up, shaking off what was left of her sleep. “Yeah, bad dreams is all. I-I thought for a minute I was back on . . . well, never mind.”

Poe squatted down beside her. “You having nightmares? Something I should know about?”

“What? No.” She flushed and rubbed self-consciously at her neck. “I mean, no more than usual.”

“Right.” Poe held out a hand and helped her to her feet. “I’d tell you to report to medbay for an eval, but . . .”

She grimaced. “Kind of impossible. Besides, I’m fine.”

“I need you whole and healthy, Khan. Truth is, it’s only going to get harder from here.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

“Come on. Let’s wake and gather the others.”

He got the rest of Black Squadron up and motioned them over, and they gathered by their ships under the stretch of the night sky. And he told them. Everything. Of the D’Qar evacuation and his decisions that led to the loss of the Resistance bomber squadron, of the slow chase across space, of Rose Tico and Freya’s mission to Canto Bight, of his own insubordination and demotion, and, finally, of the Battle of Crait and all they had lost. And what little they had left.

“I don’t understand,” Jess said, her voice an octave too high. “They’re gone? The fleet is gone?”

“They can’t be all gone,” Anya countered. “Can they, Poe?”

“I’m sorry,” he said, head lowered.

She covered her mouth with her hands and turned away, but Poe was able to see the tears in her eyes before she did. 

“The people, too?” Jess asked. “Are you sure?”

“Jess,” Poe said gently. “I was there. The Resistance . . .” He spread his hands. “It’s pretty much the Falcon, and us.”

Silence, as Poe let it sink in. Just how bad it all was, just how desperate they were. And how much of their situation was his fault.

“I understand if you want to leave. I mean, if you want to leave without me. Black Squadron seemed to be doing fine without my presence. But if you stay and allow me to lead you, I will do everything in my power to make it up to you. That, I promise.”

He closed his mouth and waited. For their confusion, for their judgment, for their disavowals. When all he got was silence, he looked up.

Suralinda was the first to speak. “That’s some heavy stuff, Poe,” she said, voice serious. “And I’d be lying if I said it didn’t bother me.”

“I underst—”

“But,” she continued before Poe could finish. “I’m pretty sure my middle name is Insubordination. Mostly because I’m misunderstood.”

“The droids call me the Great Destroyer,” Jess added. “Still. I mean, it’s not like I’m trying to get them killed, but they end up scrap all the same.”

Poe shakes his head. “I’m not making excuses for—”

“You’re going to have to face your mistakes, Poe,” Anya said, “and make amends where you can. But you’ll do it with Black Squadron at your side. You’re not getting rid of us that easily. Besides, it sounds like all we’ve got is one another, screw ups and all.”

The heaviness that Poe had been carrying lifted a bit. They weren’t saying what he did was okay, but they weren’t going to abandon him, either. “I’ll work to make it better,” he said, quietly, head down, shame heavy on his shoulders. “I swear it.”

And then there were arms around him and faces too close and steady words of encouragement. Poe soaked it all in like a dying man given an impossible reprieve. He had hoped that Black Squadron would forgive him, if only enough to let him stay on as their leader, but he had never dared to dream they might actually understand him. After the group hug broke up and the camaraderie settled, Poe took a step back, raising a hand.

“Now it’s time to talk about what’s next.”

“Revenge?” Jess asked, voice rough with emotion. Poe knew that she had been friends with many of the people lost when the First Order shot down their escape pods over Crait.

“Eventually,” Poe said, “but not quite yet. Leia has given us a mission. Well, a continuation of the mission she first assigned Black Squadron. The Resistance needs not just allies, but leaders. So we’re to narrow our search to specific people—strategists, thinkers, elders—that we think can help us rebuild and quickly.”

“Makes sense,” Anya said, thoughtfully. “Any ideas where we start?”

“I think I have a lead,” Suralinda offered, “but it’s kind of weird.” 

“Go on,” Poe said.

“Back at the party, I heard Grist and some others talking—well, complaining—about rumors coming out of Rattatak that some old Imperial had claimed power over one of the warlord factions there. They were thinking someone should put an end to that, but that’s because they lack vision.”

“What are you suggesting?”

“I’m saying that this old Imperial, whoever they are, has the leadership skills to unite a war clan. I mean, Rattatak’s no joke, right? You have to be willing to do violence, sure, but you also have to be smart.”

“Okay.”

“So, doesn’t that sound like someone who could be an asset to the Resistance?”

“They’re an Imperial,” Jess protested.

“Former Imperial,” Suralinda countered. “And you know a lot of those have no love for the upstart First Order. Maybe we can make them an offer.”

“We’re not bribing people to—”

“No, no.” Suralinda cut him off. “I’m talking about a good story. A chance at redemption, to make up for the evils the Empire committed.”

“They’re likely a sympathizer,” Jess complained, but her voice had softened a bit.

“Or it’s just as likely they’re horrified by what happened to the Hosnian system and worried about anyone having something like Starkiller Base at their disposal ever again. Some of these Imperials were just caught up in the machinery, you know. They’re not all evil.” 

Jess rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding me?”

“Jess,” Poe said, gently. “Suralinda has a point. Not that these people aren’t responsible for their crimes, but they might have something to offer the Resistance, and something the Resistance can offer them in turn.” Even as he said it, the words struck close to home as a particular girl he’s heard so much about—that he’s even met once—filled his head. Nova Hux. 

Nova wasn’t evil, he could tell from the instant he laid eyes on her. She was a part of the First Order, willingly, but she wasn’t necessarily a villain. She was responsible and yet, she was able to offer General Leia Organa something. The return of her son, Ben Solo. She talked about it with Han, Rey and Finn talked about it, even Luke Skywalker mentioned something to Leia on Crait. Poe believed in it too. 

“Redemption?” Jess said, her eyes cutting to Suralinda. “As if they deserve it.”

“Not redemption,” Poe spoke up, his mind still lingering on Nova. “Penance.”

Jess quieted. They all did, likely wondering what it would take to atone for crimes as dark and horrifying as those the Empire had committed, wondering if they could judge when none of them had spotless hands.

“Well,” Suralinda said brightly, breaking the silence, “you never know until you ask. So let me go ask.”

“You can go to Rattatak,” Poe said, and Suralinda beamed, “but you have to take Jess with you.”

“What?” both women said at the same time. 

“Makes sense,” Anya said, grinning.

The two women started to protest, but Poe held up a hand and they fell silent. “It’s the only way I’m saying yes. It’s too dangerous to send only one of you. You go as a pair, or you don’t go at all.”

Suralinda pursed her lips, considering. It was Jess who held out her hand first. “I’m in. Are we going to do this?”

Suralinda, never one to hold a bad mood, broke. She shook Jess’s hand. “You bet.”

“Good,” Poe said, relieved. He wasn’t sure if the two of them would go for it, but it hadn’t been so difficult. Despite their differences, their success at Grail City showed that the two women made good partners, and if there was something positive to find at Rattatak, they would uncover it. And hopefully keep each other alive along the way.

“So where are we heading, flyboy?” Anya turned to Poe. 

“You, BB-8, and I are going to find an old friend and ask a favor.”

On the Sacred Arena of Salka’a, Rey stood in the stone Colosseum fighting Arkay-Nine, ducking, parrying, and dodging as her friends and the politicians watched from the stands. She wielded her quarterstaff, jumping out of the way of the aqua droid’s massive arm.

“This is your last chance to surrender.” She shouts.

The droid brought down its arm, striking the ground where she was standing but she Force jumped high, hitting the head of the droid violently. Rey flipped over its body, grabbing the metal plating that she knocked loose and landed in a three-point landing. 

Glancing over her shoulder, she smirks. “If you can’t keep up, this fight will end qui—”

Her eyes then widened. “ _Oh_ . . .”

With a powerful punch, Rey flew back as she screamed in agony. Her staff was released from her grasp as her back hit the ground first with a thud, her feet flying over her head and she pummeled onto her stomach. 

Coughing on the dust that has gotten into her mouth, she places her knees under her and groans. “Still not ready . . . to surrender then?” She breathes heavily, trying to swallow her spit but her throat was dry as ever. 

The right hand on the droid began shifting into a laser cannon and aimed directly at her, firing a red beam. She quickly rolled out of the way, the ground blackened and smoking only a few meters away from her and from the crowd that was in the stands. 

“Everyone! Get down!” She yells. 

Rose looks over at Finn. “Hey, it looks like it’s not programmed to avoid hitting bystanders! Finn, she needs our help to take it out before it kills someone!” 

His eyes scanned the droid, seeing the core processor where Rey took off the armor plating on the head. Finn then turns to the Mon Calamari guard that stood next to him and eyed his blaster spear. Apologizing first, Finn did the mind trick on him to hand him the blaster spear. 

Another blast of the laser cannon shot, almost about to hit a Mon Calamari guard but Rey had shoved him out of the way with the Force. She began yelling once again. “Run! Get out of here!” 

The crowds began leaving and the aqua droid was laser focusing on them, readying its laser cannon once again until Rey waves her arms rapidly. 

“Focus on me, you malfunctioning relic!” 

Doing as she asked, the Arkay-Nine fired and Rey moved quick but not fast enough. She got blown off of her feet, crashing to the ground and weakly supported herself up onto her arms. She peers up, seeing the smoking laser cannon fixing itself onto her. Her short yet impactful life flashes before her very eyes, her truly believing that this was the end of all things. 

In a next move, the head was blasted off Arkay-Nine and Rey was able to exhale the breath she’d been holding. The droid fell, revealing Finn holding the blaster spear. “I wasn’t going to allow you to suffer while I can do something about it either.” 

He discards the spear away from him, running to help Rey up onto her feet and she clings to him tightly, her arms traveling around his neck and he cradles the back of her neck firmly and places a gentle kiss on the side of her head.

Leia steps up with Rose, seeing them two embrace and Finn frowns. “General Organa, I’m sorry I ruined the negotiations but I just couldn’t let them hurt her.” 

The general smiled softly. “Don’t be. No warships are worth the cost of losing sight of what we’re fighting for.” 

Finn took in her words and his lips widened into a happy smile but it was lost whenever the Quarren in robes, General Ri, spoke. 

“This is an outrage! The law prescribes exile for such interference in a combat between two opponents!” 

King Ech-Char agreed. “I am afraid he is correct. You all must leave Mon Cala at once!” 

Aftab Ackbar led Leia and company to a small shuttle on top of the one building for them to head back to Dac City. He felt sick to his stomach about all that had happened, and he wished that he could’ve done more than what he did. 

“This shuttle will take you to the Falcon. I am sorry for the inconvenience, General Organa, but we can’t guarantee your safety on the streets. I am sorry about a great many things.” 

“It’s not your fault, Aftab. You did all you could do to help us. Your father would be proud of who you’ve become.” She tells him once more. 

“My father would not have let isolationists like Nossor Ri and Chadkol Gee outmaneuver him like I did.”

Rey got a sense in the Force, it nipped at her like cold air and she turned to see an Quarren placing a crate inside of their shuttle and it didn’t look familiar at all. “Hey! That isn’t our crate . . .” 

The Quarren dropped it and ran quickly, disappearing over the edge and the Force became alive all around her. Suddenly, she knew what was about to happen. Her and Finn both did. “Look out!” 

A huge orangey fire explosion bursts the shuttle into flame and the crates went flying, about to land and crush the group but both Rey and Finn placed their hands up, freezing the wooden boxes in mid air. They even held off the flames from catching any of them on fire.

“That was a close one,” Rey huffs. 

Finn nods. “Yeah, no kidding.” 

Leia eyes the two Jedis in training, feeling proud of them. “I knew you both had it in you.” 

They released their holds, the crates falling all around them and Rey has to rub her arms, feeling weak. “Just before the blast, there was a Quarren . . . If we can find him.” 

Running over to the ledge, Rose peers down, seeing the silhouette. “There. I see him!” 

“Finn, protect Leia. Rose and I will catch the saboteur.” Rey quickly grabs her staff and runs and jumps off the building, calling on the Force to help her with a soft landing. 

Rose huffs, flabbergasted. “Yeah, ‘Rose and I will catch the saboteur’, sure.” 

The mechanic began rushing down a flight of stairs, running into a Mon Calamari that had a speeder bike and looking out over the city that was below them on the sacred island. He sees her, asking, “Are you hurt, air breather? We tracked an explosion near your shuttle. Is there anything you need?” She smirked, quickly jumping onto the speeder bike, and took off. 

In the flea market, Rey ran after the Quarren but the being had a blaster on him, firing back at her and she helped shelter a mother and child from the red beam. She recovered, extending herself but up and ran but came to a halt as she saw him receding to the ocean. 

“No! I’ll never catch him before he reaches the sea.” 

As if on cue, Rose ran directly into him with the speeder bike, him being bulldozed into a Mon Calamari’s stand. “Who’s going to pay for all this?” The merchant asked in horror, his hard work of gathering food was now destroyed. 

Rey and Rose aimed their weapons at the suspect. “You can put it all on the tab of Chadkol Gee. He’s going to have to pay for a whole lot.” 

Poe dropped out of lightspeed above the planet Ephemera and marveled. BB-8, secured behind him and Anya, beeped and hummed. 

“It is beautiful,” Poe agreed.

“Ever been here before, Dameron?” Anya asks. 

“No,” Poe answered. In fact, he couldn’t recall visiting any gas worlds that weren’t already giants. He half remembered some lesson from the academy, now gone vague, about the required size and distance from any system’s primary sun for a gas planet to form, but Ephemera didn’t quite fit the description. It was an anomaly, something in part occurring naturally, but also something aggressively engineered by its inhabitants, if what he had heard was accurate. 

The droid beeped a question. 

Poe replied. “It was once a mining planet, like Bespin. You know Bespin, right? But here they mined the tibanna gas to extinction. After it was all gone, the Empire abandoned its colonies and most of the settlers ran with them. Good riddance, from what I hear. It left the planet back in the hands of its original inhabitants and a few holdouts who weren’t there just to cash in but had grown to love the place. And then, surprise, they discovered tuusah.”

“Tuusah is the residue from the mine runoff, right?” Anya inquired, her nose doing the little scrunch that Poe found irresistibly adorable. 

He nods. “Tuusah also has medicinal properties, so a new industry was born. Maybe it wasn’t as lucrative as the Empire’s strip mining, but it was a heck of a lot kinder to the planet’s flora and fauna.”

BB-8 whirled from his droid slot, and Poe laughed. 

“You’re right,” he said. “The Empire has never been kind. But the planet is a resort destination now, and the capital is called Wish. What a name, right? It used to be Outpost 665 or something boring like that. But now?” He waved his hand. “Wish. It’s one of the largest spas in the galaxy. All kinds of mineral baths and healing treatments and some kind of legendary oxide therapy that’s supposed to make you look younger.”

Anya then groaned, doing a childish pout. “I would kill to be pampered right about now. To relax and sip back on some fruity drinks, not having to worry about the First Order. Or _Crylo Ren.”_

“We’re here to find Maz Kanata, remember?” The pilot retorts. 

When Maz Kanata had sent him Ephemera’s coordinates, she had also told him the planet’s history. “A bit remote,” she had said, “way off any useful trade routes, but there’s plenty of rest and relaxation to be found if you like drifting in a cloud. And the population is a hoot.” And then she’d cackled and cut off the communication with a _See you soon_.

So here he was, maneuvering his way through a gaseous sea of pale pinks and greens and blues to a landing pad that seemed no more substantial than the heavy atmosphere through which his tandem starfighter flew.

“I could still use a mineral bath after dealing with you all day, every day.” She teases him and BB-8 beeps in agreement.

Poe gazes over his shoulder at her for a short moment. “Okay, An, how about once this is all over, I’ll personally treat you to the Dameron Spa and BB-8’s Roll-N-Dine. Deal?” 

“Sounds like a deal, flyboy.” 

A transmission came in, and BB-8 opened the channel without Poe having to ask.

“Welcome to Ephemera airspace,” came a strangely wispy voice, almost like the soft exhale of a child. “Please identify yourself so that we can grant you landing clearance.”

“This is . . .” Poe hesitated. He was known to the First Order. Known and despised. He didn’t think the First Order was lurking on this anonymous Outer Rim resort world, but he had been wrong about that kind of thing before, and it paid to be cautious, even when he was flying a ship that no one would mistake for an X-wing. But he didn’t get a chance to answer before another voice replaced the first one, this one not wispy or soft at all. 

“Poe Dameron, is that you?” This voice was crankily familiar. There was a muffled protest on the other end and then, “Oh, give me that mike, dear, I can take it from here.” Poe heard sounds of struggle. “I didn’t hire you to . . .” More struggle, and then a heavy thump. 

Poe waited a moment before asking, “Maz?”

“What? Of course it’s me, you fool. Who else would have asked you to this backwater?” 

“Is . . . is everything all right?”

“What? Oh yes, of course. Why wouldn’t it be?”

Anya piped up before Poe could. “It sounds like you’re having problems there for a moment.”

“Anya! Been a long time since I’ve heard from ya.” Maz’s voice was filled with joy. “There’s just some people getting a little possessive with the equipment. Nothing to concern yourself with. I’ve handled it. Now hurry up you two. I haven’t got all day.”

Poe’s brow creased. “Uh, I’d be happy to land, but I don’t see anything that looks like it’ll hold the ship up. Am I in the right place?”

Silence, and then, “Oh, you’re right. Isn’t that funny? Some kind of security measure, the locals assure me, but really I think they’re just partial to the undulation.”

“The undulation?”

“You’ll see. Everything here sways a bit. Now . . . let me . . .” Poe and Anya could hear her shuffling things around and the decided click of something heavy engaging, and just like that, the thing that had borne only the suggestion of a landing pad gathered and appeared to solidify until it looked like a normal place to put his ship down.

“What in the . . . ?” Poe muttered.

“It’s perfectly safe, Dameron. Now are you going to land or not? I thought you were on urgent Resistance business.”

Poe shook his head. No use arguing with Maz when she was right. Whatever it had been before, the landing pad was now the real deal.

“Copy,” he said. “Coming in now.”

“Good, good. See you soon. Oh, are you both hungry? Have you eaten? I should have food brought up, shouldn’t I? I’ll have to ask them to prepare something special unless . . . you both don’t have time for a psychedelic experience do you?”

He chuckled in disbelief. “Not today, Maz. Like you said, urgent business.”

“Of course. Okay then. Tah.” And with that the transmission ended.

Maz Kanata was a legend. No one could deny that. Rumors ran rampant of anyplace pilots gathered about wild nights spent back at Maz’s castle on Takodana or of some fortuitous run-ins with ‘the pirate queen’ that made everyone a bit wealthier. But she was hard to pin down, harder still to understand. She always seemed to know who was doing what even in the most remote corners of the galaxy, and she was an uncanny judge of character. Poe had no idea how she did it, or how vast her network was, but it was impressive. And now he hoped that she would muster her impressive powers to help the Resistance regroup and find its footing.

“I’m not helping you with anything,” Maz said, adjusting her spectacles to get a better look at Poe’s astonished face while Anya folded her arms in front of her chest. “If you recall, last time I stuck my neck out for the Resistance, the First Order destroyed my castle. Do you know how much I loved that castle?”

“It was a great castle,” Poe admitted.

“The best. Do you know how long I had had it?”

“A thousand years?”

“A thou . . .” She paused, giving Poe a suspicious look. He grinned, playfully. “Longer than you’ve been around, Dameron, that’s for sure. So don’t sniff at me like I’m being unreasonable.”

She dipped her hand in the gelatinous goop that filled the bowl next to her and brought back a handful of something pink and smooth that smelled distinctly of sulfur. She leaned out of her recliner, offering some to Poe and Anya. “You want?”

“No, we’re fine.”

They were sitting on long sinuous loungers in one of Wish’s ubiquitous day spas. Poe and Anya were still in uniform, small mercy, but Maz was wrapped in a thick fluffy white towel, a second white towel wrapped tightly around her head. Her bare feet soaked in a mix of muddy chemicals Poe couldn’t identify, and willowy attendants fluttered in and out of the room, proffering teas and colonics and other concoctions Poe politely refused for him and Anya. Maz was now smearing the sulfur scented goop she had offered the two pilots on her broad cheeks and humming merrily.

“What is that stuff?” Anya asked, sniffing. “It smells terrible.” The sulfur odor had been replaced with an ammonia one.

“Feline poop. From some species that’s lived here so long that it’s practically native to the planet. Imagine. A planet with no solid ground but plenty of cats. The story is that the founder of Ephemera was a Rothkahar philosopher. He domesticated this species because he thought them of advanced intelligence . . . or maybe they domesticated him. I forget. Anyway, later on, he found that their excrement had healing properties. High concentrations of tibanna gas, naturally processed into tuusah.” She laughed again. “Does wonders for the skin.”

“That’s great, Maz,” Anya comments, thinking it was not great at all. 

“Can we get back to the topic at hand?” Poe eyes the old smuggler. “The Resistance needs your help.”

“Yes, you told me.”

 _But you didn’t seem to hear me_ , he thought. He needed to get through to her, and he decided brutal honesty was his best bet. “We need a place to hide and regroup. It needs to be outside of prying First Order eyes but able to handle our needs for housing, supplies, communications . . .”

“Didn’t you say there were only a handful of you left on a single ship? What needs could you have?”

Poe bristled at her callousness. Maybe she had heard him, and she just didn’t care. He hadn’t expected that. “There will be more,” he said hastily. “We’ve got people all over the galaxy, and we’re making new allies all the time. We were hoping you could provide shelter. And more than that. Leadership. Leia can’t do it alone. We need you to help lead the Resistance.”

“Lead the Resistance? I thought that was your job.”

“I . . .” Poe frowned, feeling unsettled.

“Expecting me to do your job for you?” she grumbled, now dutifully applying the cream to her neck. “You’re the commander in the room. Or has that changed?”

“Nothing’s changed,” Poe said automatically, but it was a lie, wasn’t it? After the Raddus, everything had changed.

Maz finished shellacking her throat and sat back in her chair, eyes closed. The last attendant had left a steaming pot of tea on the side table, and Maz blindly reached a hand out, found her cup, and lifted it to her lips to take a sip. She set the teacup down. Poe waited patiently for her to speak, but after a moment he could hear light snoring. Had she fallen asleep?

Poe stood up, exasperated. “This was a waste of time. An, we should go.”

“No!” Maz’s hand closed around his wrist like a vise, all the whimsy fled from her voice as if it had never been there. She cocked one eye open, fixing it on him. He froze.

Anya slowly eyes her. “Maz . . .”

“You both see me like this, and you think me a fool. Good for me, because when an enemy perceives you as foolish or weak, that is when they are most vulnerable in their arrogance. That is when you strike.” She twisted her hand, pulling hard, and his feet flew out from under him. He went down on his back, hard enough that a bellowing breath escaped from his lungs and pain radiated from his tailbone.

“Maz!” Anya jerked back, standing up from her seat as her eyes grew wide in disbelief. 

Maz was up off her recliner and standing on Poe’s chest. Her eyes, surrounded by the sulfurous skin treatment, were centimeters from his own. She narrowed her gaze, taking him in. Judging. “I see arrogance in you. And that is what gets you in trouble, causes pain.”

He flushed, still thinking of the Raddus. “I learned my lesson,” he spit through gritted teeth.

“Have you?”

“I . . .” Poe collapsed back, resting his head on the floor. He thought about lying, or at least not telling Maz any more than necessary, but she looked at him like she could see right through him, like she already knew the ugly truth.

His eyes dart to Anya for a moment, seeing the expression on her face and he mentally cursed at himself. 

“You asked me if I was still a leader,” he started, eyes drifting up to the ceiling. “The truth is that I don’t know. I-I made some mistakes . . .”

“Mistakes?” Maz’s tone was scalpel-sharp.

“I led a mutiny,” he confessed. He hadn’t meant to tell her, but there it was. And now that he had begun, he wanted her to know everything. “I didn’t understand what was happening. All I knew was that we were running, when we should have been fighting. I had to do something!”

“Did you? Have to do something?”

He blinked, taken off guard. A moment ago he had wanted to defend himself, to make her see reason or at least understand his reasoning. But suddenly all that fight was gone and reality hit him like a punch to the gut.

“No,” he admitted. “I’m a soldier and she was my commanding officer. All I had to do was trust.” He exhaled, instinctively wanting to sink further into the floor, to hide from his own dishonor. He looked at her, eyes pleading for . . . not sympathy. Not even understanding. But something else. A second chance.

Maz made a humming sound. She leaned her head away from him and sat back. She didn’t get off his chest, but at least there was some distance between their faces.

“And now what, Poe Dameron?”

“What?”

“Let’s say you’re right. That your actions, your arrogance, got many people killed. Led the Resistance to where they are now: broken, on the run, destitute, and begging for help.”

He flinched. Opened his mouth to protest her words, but what was there to say besides “I fix it.”

“How will you do that?” she asked. “You can’t bring the dead back. You can’t single-handedly rebuild the Resistance, although—” She snorted, sounding amused. “—if anyone was going to try it would be you.”

“I can bring down the First Order.”

“Alone?”

“If I have to.”

She shook her head. “Arrogance. Still.” She rose up on her knees, looming over him. “You know who else is arrogant? The First Order.”

“The First Order is evil.”

Maz stared at him, lips pursed. She fine-tuned her spectacles, her eyes growing larger behind the magnifying glass. When she spoke, her voice was soft, almost reverent. “I’ve seen evil in many forms, Dameron. The First Order is no worse than the Sith, or the Empire, or countless others who would use the dark side. But they, too, are countered with the light that they choose to ignore with their pride.” 

Poe automatically knew what she was trying to hint at. “Nova Hux.” The older sister of Rey. The orphan girl of Jakku. The light. _Kylo Ren’s light_. 

Maz climbed off his chest and into the chaise lounge. She removed her glasses and leaned back, covering her eyes with a mask of something slightly furry that had been soaking in a pale-blue liquid on the side table. “I have my own way of fighting, same as others. Not everything is about armadas and starfighters, you know.”

Anya helped Poe up as he rubbed his back. She stared at Maz, thinking how easy it was for her to dismiss them, to not care about the fate of their friends and the people they loved. To her, they were nothing. Is that what happened when you lived a thousand years?

She grunted, as if she could read Anya’s thoughts. “You think I’m callous, but I’m not. You will be fine without me.”

“I sure hope you’re right,” she said, unable to keep the bitterness from her voice. “Because if you’re not, Poe and me, and our friends are going to die. And you can sit with that for a thousand more years for all I care.” 

Anya’s confession had left Poe scraped raw, feeling exposed but no closer to finding a way to close the wound. And now he had failed again by not convincing Maz to join them. 

Silently, he gathered his things and left with his partner. If either one of them had bothered to look back, they might have seen Maz Kanata lifting the corner of her mask to stare intently in his direction, a small smile leaking from her lips. 

Heading directly back to the Court of Justice, Leia, Finn, Rose, and Rey all stopped in the one tunnel, seeing a lot of commotion up ahead. Finn focused on reading their lips, the Force also helping him out with making out the words and he felt the sense of worry. 

“The First Order is here.” 

With determination, Leia orders, “Rose, Finn, head to the Falcon to help Freya and C-3PO prep for an evacuation.” 

“We’ve got to get you to the Millennium Falcon, General Organa.” Rose spoke up. 

“I’m not leaving without those Mon Calamari ships.” 

Back in the seaspace diving suit again with Aftab Ackbar, but this time accompanied by Rey, Leia stood before King Ech-Char who was in dismay. He was joined by General Nossor Ri and Chadkol Gee. 

“First an assassination attempt on General Organa while she is on a diplomatic visit and now the First Order?” 

“I warned you all that receiving a Resistance delegation would be trouble.” Chadkol spoke. “She had led these Star Destroyers straight here!” 

“Actually, it seems that they are here because of _you_.” Aftab remarks, jabbing a finger in his general direction. “This time you will show General Organa the proper respect!” 

“This is an outrage!” Nossor began, “She was ordered to leave Mon Cala—”

“The hour grows short for political jousting, General Ri, so I will skip ahead to the evidence against your protégé, Chadkol Gee. And how his own personal attendant can testify that he was the saboteur and the attempt on our lives was to curry the favor with the First Order!”

“Is . . . Is this true?” 

Chadkol stood tall, proud. “Everything I have done is out of my love for Mon Cala. Do you remember the horrors of the Imperial occupation?” 

“What you have done, Chadkol, is treason!” King Ech-Char shouts at him then faces Leia. “You have my assurance, General Organa, that this will not go unpunished.” 

“With respect, King Ech-Char, now is not the time for recriminations. Now is the time for us to come together. The time to rekindle the old alliances that once fought back against Imperial aggression. The time to do so again against a new oppressor. We cannot hide in the depths waiting for the danger to pass. We must be a rising tide. For only with Mon Calamari ships does the Resistance have a chance—and only by resisting can Mon Cala remain free!” 

Leia then closed her eyes, remembering the destruction of Alderaan and feeling her own son stabbing her late husband through the Force because she was so desperate to try and bring him back home. There was so much horror and sorrow. 

“I know what I am asking will bring a terrible sacrifice. But it is a sacrifice I have made myself over the years. So, let’s stop seeing each other as adversaries.” Leia then swam over to the saboteur, uncuffing him and setting him free. “And let’s start focusing on the true enemy.” 

With her act of kindness, King Ech-Char was moved. “Your words have reminded us of what we stand for. You will have those ships. But I fear it is too late . . . We can never get them through a First Order blockade.” 

General Nossor Ri drew in a deep breath, nodding. “Leave that to me. I will atone for the sins of my soldier.” 

The door to the bridge opens and General Hux turns, having expected to be met face to face with Nova and sure enough he was. He sighs dramatically, letting her know that he was annoyed with these types of meetings and goes back into his parade rest before speaking. 

“We already have had this conversation, Ms. Hux. I’m simply doing what is best in your favor and in the First Order’s interests.” 

“If you’re launching a ground invasion, I want in.” 

The statement threw Armitage Hux for a loop. He wasn’t expecting that at all which led him to ask, “Why?” 

“They’re the enemy, right? The planets that converse with the Resistance are planning on killing me. So we’d need to fight back. I’d need to fight back.” 

Hux smirked, nodding. “Very well then. Glad to see you finally filling in the shoes of your rank.” 

Nova was never a fan of lying, but deception? That was something that she could do very well if needed. Especially if she needed to do it around someone such as Hux to gain what she really wanted, and what she wanted right now was to protect her sister and her friends. Joining the ground invasion would give her that chance. 

“General Hux,” a technician spoke from the bridge pit. “We are picking up a ship coming towards us.” 

Nova peers out, seeing a single Mon Calamari fighter approaching and she receives a feeling of déjà vu. This had reminded her of them being placed out of D’Qar just a month ago before Hux ordered for the planet’s destruction and caught the Resistance in an evacuation. 

Hux ordered for the deployment of TIEs and out of the hangar they went, tracking down the single fighter and while the pilots were busy with the craft, more flew up from Mon Cala and a fight in space broke out between the First Order and the citizens of the oceanic planet. 

General Nossor Ri was in the main craft, calling out to the many men that were fighting alongside him. “For Mon Cala! We will fight until our dying—”

His craft was targeted and Nova watched as it caught aflame and exploded violently. She lost her footing for a moment, regaining her stance and propped herself against the viewport and as the cyborg was programmed to do, Elsie had fled into the bridge and was at her side. 

“This was obviously meant as a distraction.” Hux shakes his head, turning to a technician. “Do a sensor sweep. Now.” 

Running a test, she read out the readings. “We’re picking up ships on the far side of the planet!” 

“Send all ships to cut off their escape!” He turns, seeing Nova and motions to her. “It seems Mon Cala has chosen not to remain neutral after all. Let’s show the rest of the galaxy what happens to those who side against us.” 

In a transport with Stormtroopers and Captain Phasma, Nova stood up in front and held her lightsaber tightly in her right hand, her pointer finger tapping the activation button to a rhythmic beat; nothing too serious in order to spring her red, beaming blade to life. 

Touching down on Dac City, the ramp folds down and she rushes down, Phasma ordering for certain groups to go here and there as Mon Calamari and Quarrens run, fearing for their lives. Nova ignored it all, closing her eyes and trying to sense for Rey through the Force. She felt a pull, opening her eyes and following it. Her heart was beating fast but she still ran, gaining speed with the help of the Force and easily cut through the streets and crowds of fleeting people who ducked and hid from blaster fire. 

Finally, she saw cream colored sashes blowing in the wind from behind a small female figure, darting around a corner with an older lady who Nova could only imagine was General Leia Organa. She gulps, placing her hilt onto her belt and jogs over, seeing the infamous Millennium Falcon preparing to take off with other Mon Calamari ships and vessels. 

“Rey?!” She calls out but she doesn’t hear. Rey was loading herself up on the ramp, speaking to Freya to say that they needed to make their quick escape since transports of Stormtroopers were roaming around. She then looked back to the general to see how the woman paused before the ship, a powerful sensation flowing through her which made her breath get caught in her lungs.

Leia Organa, the Princess of Alderaan and General of the Resistance, turns with such posture and a sense of what Nova could make out to be longing. Her deep brown eyes meet Nova’s from across the distance, and though they were many feet away, it was as if they were only a few steps within each other’s company. She mouths a few words, seeming to be in shock at the sight of the scavenger and Nova gulps, feeling nervous. 

A rumble beneath their feet breaks the tension and Nova wobbles, turning around to see that a few Quarren and Mon Calamari began fighting back against the Troopers, denoting boxes of explosions and using their blunt melee weapons to attack. They begin traveling their way, the rumpus drawing louder and louder and Nova whips herself back around to see Leia continuing up the ramp and into the freighter. 

The ramp began to draw close and fear stirred up inside of Nova, her trying to push through the scuffling bodies that had encircled her. She ducked under blows, jumped over fallen bodies, all white trying to make her way towards the Falcon. She wanted Rey to know that the destruction of the planets wasn’t her fault, that she was trying to get a hold on the First Order but since Kylo’s departure, Hux made it a rather daunting task. 

“Rey!” She squeals out, still trying to squirm her way through but falters. 

Too much emotion was surrounding her, wearing her down as if she had rocks tied to her ankles. She pressed on and it grew considerably worse by the seconds, her pressing a hand to her temples. It reminded her of what it felt like when Snoke had wormed his way through mercilessly and forcibly. She clenches her jaw, crying out in agony but still dragged her feet, trying to call out for Rey once again. Her body and mind was slowing down, and she felt exhausted. 

Another explosion goes off, one that was too close, and Nova collapsed onto the ground as dust and pebbles rain down from above. She coughed on the choking cloud of smoke, lifting her head shaky as the Corellian freighter rose high into the air, about to leave and join the ships in the sky. She needed to warn them about how the Star Destroyers were waiting for them, about to ambush them and pulverize them into ash in the cold, ruthless black space. 

She raises her trembling left hand towards the vessel, trying to focus and clear her aching mind. “Rey—”

From the corner of her right eye, she saw a very muscular Quarren running up with a power shovel and all of her attention went directly to him. And suddenly, the planet around her went dark. The upper half of her body that was supported on her unsteady arm gave out as her head rocketed to the left side, smashing onto the ground as more citizens were killed and many buildings were being looted and destroyed. 

Manning a Mon Calamari vessel, Aftab Ackbar radioed to the Millennium Falcon and the other ships as he noticed the Finalizer and other Star Destroyers that saw them escaping. “We must hit the hyperdrive now or this will be the shortest battle in the history of Mon Cala!” 

A craft to the right of his then exploded in a fiery ball of orange and yellow which made him rumble and try to steer his ship clear of the debris. He readied the thrusters, and the other ships followed in pursuit, all jumping to lightspeed in harrowing time as the Finalizer shot another blast. 


	20. Sunset

Poe sat in the cockpit of his borrowed starfighter, primed for takeoff. He’d asked for clearance to depart twice now, and each time the wispy voice on the other side of the communications link had denied him, claiming the airspace was occupied and he needed to stand by. He suspected it was a ruse, but he wasn’t about to go charging blindly forward into the stew-thick atmosphere without clearance. Exasperated, he flipped the transmission switch one more time and asked for clearance to depart.

“Negative, pilot,” said the breathy voice a third time. “You have company.”

Poe looked up through the clear canopy of the cockpit and saw nothing. But then what would he see in this atmosphere? It was like living inside a pastel cloud.

A sudden tap at the viewport to his left and his heart was in his throat. He was fumbling at his belt for a blaster before he realized what he was doing. Big eyes peered at him, and he exhaled slowly, forcing himself to breathe so his heart would stop racing.

“Open up,” Maz said, tapping on the transparisteel again.

Against his better judgment, Poe released the air lock, and the cockpit parted between them.

“There’s something I meant to tell you before you ran off like that,” Maz said, leaning in. “But first, where did you get this ship? It’s a relic.”

“It’s a loaner.” Anya informs her. 

Poe then added on. “I told you we’re down to scrap metal, everything else destroyed. Now what do you want?”

Maz looked around, unperturbed, examining the display console. “It’s a relic, but it’s also a collectible. When you’re done with it, come see me. I might buy it.” He thought to explain that he had to return it to a very particular Hutt, but decided it wasn’t worth it. 

“Maz, what do you want? I’ve got to go.”

She waved his protests away. “We’ve long suspected that the First Order has been taking children and disappearing people on the margins of the galaxy. But things are escalating now: arresting people on phony trumped-up charges. Small crimes that they’ve blown up into capital offenses, or charges simply fabricated out of nothing. People going missing in the dead of night, their families having no idea what happened to them. Nighttime raids or picked up off the streets and”—Maz made a gesture, spreading her fingers wide—“vanished. And the people most likely to disappear? People with ties to the old rebellion. And interestingly enough, we’re seeing it with some old Imperials, as well. Those who have been outspoken about their distaste for the First Order, but also those who have remained neutral. Anyone who might pose a threat, now or down the line.”

Poe frowned. It was disturbing but didn’t surprise him. The First Order thrived on abusing power. “Do you think that’s what’s happened to Leia’s allies? They’re not answering because they can’t? They’ve been arrested?”

Maz shrugged. “Maybe. Possibly. But the First Order used to do it in secret. Now they don’t bother. They snatch people off the streets and don’t even pretend to have whatever planet they’ve infiltrated hold a sham trial. Just death or labor camps.”

“Labor camps?” Anya furrowed her brows. 

“Someone has to build all those fancy new ships, eh?”

Poe chewed the inside of his cheek, thoughtful. “Thanks, Maz. Leia will want to know about this.”

“Yes, I thought she might. Rumor has it that there’s a list somewhere of all the people they’ve taken. A big list. No one’s seen it, but I’ve got people chasing it down. I hear something definitive, I’ll call you.”

Poe nodded. “Do that.”

“You sure you don’t want to sell this ship?”

“Not mine to sell.”

“A shame.”

He started to lower the cockpit transparisteel when Maz called his name. He turned.

“Be the light, Poe.”

Leia curled up on her makeshift bed and tried to pretend it wasn’t time to get up. But she kept dreaming of sausages and those big fluffy biscuits they had on Hosnian Prime back when she was in the New Republic Senate. She vividly remembered sharing one with Ransolm Casterfo, the young, charismatic senator from the Inner Rim planet Riosa. Ransolm had been her rival and then her co-conspirator and friend and her enemy again when he had revealed that Darth Vader was her birth father to the open Senate, and thus the entire galaxy. The timing and manner of the disclosure was devastating and essentially ended her legitimate political career. But she had been chafing at the reins of respectability anyway, the Senate being so contentious and at odds that it had become a useless partisan body. Nevertheless, Ransolm’s betrayal had stung. Badly.

In the end he made amends for his betrayal of their friendship and faced his own trials—framed and falsely accused of terrorist activities and the assassination of Leia’s good friend and senator, Tai-Lin Garr. He was arrested and taken for trial to his homeworld, a planet that embraced the death penalty for such crimes. Ransolm’s final fate remained unknown. Leia had tried to start an inquest to clear his name, but her political clout was in ruins and she worried that an association with her did more harm than good. Afraid lending her voice to his cause would only hurry his demise, Leia left it alone, but she never forgot him. In the end, he had been a friend. Just thinking about him made her melancholy. He was a good man who had not deserved his fate, a man who would have been an asset to the Resistance. Someone who could have made a difference. Exactly like the type of people they needed now. And he was quite dashing. She smiled, remembering how he had swooped into her meeting with the notorious crime lord Rinnrivin Di thinking he was saving her when, in fact, Leia had been leading Di into a trap.

“Rinnrivin Di!” she exclaimed, sitting up.

Work paused around her. Freya, Rose Tico, and Finn had been talking quietly at a nearby table. They looked up now, concern on their faces.

“Rinnrivin Di!” she said again, excitedly.

“Is that a place, ma’am?” Rose asked politely.

“No.” She good-naturedly waved Rose’s inquiry aside. “It’s a person. Was a person. I first met him when I was in the Senate and we were investigating the existence of a crime syndicate interfering with Ryloth’s shipping lanes. He had an underground operation on Bastatha.”

Rose leaned forward, interested. Leia had noticed that the young woman had a hunger for war stories, or any stories, really, about the Resistance. _She’s invested,_ Leia observed silently, _and looks for connection_. They were good qualities, and she made a note to herself to encourage Rose’s interest. Rose was still impulsive, as her unauthorized mission to Canto Bight evidenced, but she was competent and genuine and, most importantly, she cared. _She’s someone who wears her heart on her sleeve,_ Leia thought. _Young, emotionally vulnerable, but infinitely likable. And she reminds me a bit of Luke._

Freya and Finn, she knew that they were brave, and it was a bravery hard-won. Both were many of the First Order’s orphans, participants in a horrific program meant to instill ultimate obedience into child soldiers. Freya had somehow retained her humanity despite the conditioning, and once she had seen the opportunity, she faked her death and joined the Resistance. As for Finn, the Force led him to Jakku and that’s when it had done its job. It made him find Poe Dameron in order to escape the First Order and then run into Rey, his other half within the cosmic Force, to help her begin her own self-finding journey and to reunite with her long lost sister. 

“And is Rinnrivin Di here now?” Finn asked, dragging her back from her reverie, and obviously confused.

Leia laughed. She motioned Rose over. “Help me up,” she said, sliding her legs off the bed and letting her feet touch the ground. She had fallen into bed fully clothed, exhausted after spending all night at the communications deck, and hadn’t bothered to even take off her shoes. Now she was glad she didn’t have to waste the time getting dressed.

Rose hurried over dutifully and helped Leia to her feet.

“Rinnrivin Di is dead,” she said by way of explanation. “Which is a very good thing, because he was a very bad man. When I was in the Galactic Senate on Hosnian Prime, the Ryloth ambassador petitioned the Senate for help investigating Di. He was sure that Di’s criminal operation was interfering with Ryloth’s shipping lanes, possibly funneling funds into a terrorist organization.”

“Was he?” Rose asked, sounding awed.

Leia blinked. “Yes.” It occurred to Leia that the places she had been, the people she knew, must seem fantastical to Rose. She made a mental note to tell Rose about the memoirs she had recently recorded. They might be of interest, and besides, it would do no one any good for the young not to know the galaxy’s history. That, no doubt, would doom them to repeat it.

“So if Rinnrivin is dead,” Finn said, “why do we have to worry about him now?”

“Worry about him? Who’s worried about him?”

“You are,” Rose said, giving Leia a grin that bordered on the patronizing smile you gave your senile grandmother when you didn’t want to offend her. 

Leia huffed in irritation. “No. I don’t care a thing about Rinnrivin Di. I was thinking of pastries and it reminded me of an old friend who then reminded me of Di.”

“Ah,” Rose said. “Got it.” 

“I don’t think you do have it,” Leia said. “Or else you’d be showing a bit more enthusiasm. Because I think I know where we can find help.”

Rose, Freya, and Finn exchanged looks and then turned back to her, expectantly.

“Keep up, please,” Leia said. “We’re going to Ryloth.”

“Of course,” Finn said. “Makes perfect sense.” But the look on his face said Leia was in fact not making sense.

“So is there an old rebel stronghold on Ryloth that we can revive, like on Crait?” Freya asked, excitedly, following along much better than the other two.

“Not an old stronghold,” Leia corrected her, “but there is an old rebel, a friend. And he owes me a favor.”

Leia hurried to the cockpit where she found Rey and Aftab Ackbar. They were arguing, voices low and urgent. Rey looked up when Leia came through the door.

“Did we wake you?” she asked, concerned. “We were trying to be quiet.”

“I’d slept long enough. What’s going on? Is there a problem?”

“We’re low on fuel,” Rey said. She was strapped into the pilot’s seat. 

_It’s where the girl belongs,_ Leia thought. Han would have approved.

“We need to refuel but we’ve only got enough for one jump. If we choose wrong, we’re grounded.”

Leia frowned. “That bad?”

Rey nodded. “Aftab thinks Tovash Tchii would be safe, and it’s within range, but if we go to Tovash Tchii we’re more than likely to draw the attention of the First Order.

“I have an idea,” Leia said. “Ryloth.” She quickly sketched out her plan to the two.

Rey leaned over her console, hands working the navicomputer. “It’s within range,” she said after a moment. “Not a bad option, but are we any more certain of what we’ll find there?”

“No,” Leia admitted. “But I’m willing to take the chance.”

“Then Ryloth it is,” Rey said. She nodded, setting their course. Within minutes they were burning the last of their fuel reserves and hurtling through hyperspace on the strength of Leia’s wild idea.

Leia sat in the seat behind Rey, her pulse racing and her mind running through a dozen scenarios. She wrung her hands, anxiety getting the best of her. She knew it was a risk, but the Resistance would not be welcomed no matter where they chose to go. At least they had a potential ally on Ryloth. And if they didn’t? If her gamble didn’t pay off and they were stuck without friends and without fuel . . . no, she wouldn’t let herself think that. It would work. She would make it work.

They were all silent as the Millennium Falcon hurtled them closer to their fate, the hours in hyperspace passing, the weight of their limited options sitting heavily in the cockpit.

“Are you well, General?” came a voice from behind her. Leia startled as C-3PO entered the cockpit. She had been so lost in her own thoughts that she hadn’t heard him approaching. She forced herself to take a deep breath, and then another, before she glanced over at the fussy protocol droid.

“I’m great,” she said brightly, heart still racing in her chest. “Why do you ask?”

“I can’t help but notice that your cheeks are slightly flushed, and your heart rate is elevated. It would not surprise me to discover your blood pressure is higher than the recommended range, which current medical standards set between—”

“It’s called nerves, Threepio,” she said, cutting him off gently. “I’m just a bit anxious.”

“I am familiar with the emotion, Your Highness—I mean General.” He replied primarily. “Nevertheless, it is my duty to inform you that the medical droids did advise you against becoming agitated so recently after your illness.”

“Thank you. So noted.”

“But Your Highness, I must insist—”

“We’re coming out of lightspeed,” Rey informed them.

Leia watched as the telltale blur of stars disappeared abruptly and the planet of Ryloth filled their view. It was beautiful, a blue-and-red ball with bands of green, the swirl of weather systems wrapping the planet in shades of white. She’d spent very little time on Ryloth and knew less than she would have liked about the planet’s history and people. She wished this visit could be under better circumstances, but she didn’t have that luxury.

“Something’s coming up on the scanner,” Rey said tersely from the pilot’s seat. “Looks like ships approaching. Any chance that we’re expected?”

“Not likely,” Leia admitted. “Our luck with communications hasn’t been the greatest, if you recall. So I thought we’d just . . . show up.”

“Those are fighters,” Rey said. “Two ships, Can-Cell class. Reading as Ryloth interceptors registered out of the capital city, Lessu. Official government call signs. Shields up?”

“Not yet,” Leia said. She was more wary than worried at this point. “We come in peace. Let’s not give them a reason to think we don’t.”

“How do you know they won’t fire on us?”

“I don’t.”

A beeping caught Rey’s attention, she inspected it

“They’ve powered up their weapons!” Rey exclaimed.

“I know,” Leia said through gritted teeth. Now she was worried. She knew a hostile welcome was a possibility, but it still surprised her that the Ryloth government would be willing to shoot first and ask questions later of a simple cargo ship. Perhaps things were worse here than she realized.

She hurried to the corridor. “Finn,” she called down the long hallway. Finn appeared at the entrance to the main corridor, Freya and Rose at his side. “We might have a problem. I need you and Freya on the turrets, just in case.”

Finn nodded sharply, and he and Freya ran for the guns.

“Is there anything I can do?” Rose asked.

“Get on the communications console in the crew cabin. Run through our ally frequencies again. Anyone within shouting distance of Ryloth in case—”

“Leia!” Rey’s voice was high and sharp. Leia gestured Rose away before she turned back to the cockpit.

The transmission light on Rey’s console blinked green. Leia had been expecting the worst, but that light meant they wanted to talk. Relief flooded her body. They had a chance.

“Answer it,” she said to Rey.

Rey looked back at her, eyes wide.

“Go on.”

The green light blinked, more insistent.

“Oh my!” C-3PO exclaimed. “You must answer their hail. Protocol rule 12B6 states that when entering any c-class planet’s sovereign orbital space, it is required to respond to a government—”

“What do I say?” Rey asked, voice panicked.

“You’ll think of something,” Leia assured her.

“I thought that was your job!”

“I’m too well known. I don’t think we want to reveal who we are quite yet, just in case the First Order beat us here.”

“Won’t they know the Millennium Falcon?”

“Maybe. But they won’t necessarily know I’m on the ship. And we won’t know anything for sure until you answer that.”

“I-I can’t!”

“Of course you can,” Leia said simply. “And now.”

“I—”

Aftab was exasperated, reaching over to flip the green button on. The cockpit filled with the slightly threatening masculine voice. “YT-1300 freighter, identify yourself and your purpose in the Ryloth system or we will be forced to bring your ship down. You have thirty seconds.”

“Ominous,” Leia murmured. “I guess they don’t get many visitors.” She was being flippant, mostly for Rey’s sake. Of course they didn’t get many visitors. She imagined most of the galaxy was hunkered down and waiting, terrified that their skies would fill with a First Order occupying force at any moment. Or worse, a red pulse of light like the one that had decimated the Hosnian system. These were dark times and Ryloth had good reason to be wary, even of an old Corellian freighter. She was of two minds about it herself. On the one hand she had meant it when she said that it might not be wise to identify themselves to the Ryloth government. She didn’t think they would be specifically hostile to the Resistance, but they had never joined the Republic and had certainly never taken sides when the Populists and Centrists had ripped the Senate apart, politically. She couldn’t imagine they wanted to be openly seen supporting either side. She had hoped to slip onto the planet and track down her old friend without engaging with the government, but she should have known better.

“YT-1300 freighter,” the voice repeated, “identify yourself and your purpose—”

C-3PO muttered something quietly worried. Leia waited, eyes on Rey.

“This is . . . Rey!” The girl said suddenly. “And we’re out of the . . .” She paused and then, “Han system! We’re carrying medical supplies to the southern region.” She grinned excitedly, clearly extemporizing. “We’re expected!”

It wasn’t bad. It would at least buy them some time.

“Pilot Rey of the Han system, transmit your clearance code now.”

Rey looked at Leia, eyes big. _What do I say?_ she mouthed.

 _Think of something,_ Leia mouthed back, letting her know she was to solve this problem on her own.

“I . . . we lost our code. Terrible incident on Teedo Minor. Do you know it? But I assure you we—”

“I’ll take it from here, Lessu command,” a female voice cut in, saving Rey from whatever she was going to say next.

The voice was authoritative and sounded like it expected to be obeyed. Rey frowned, and then whispered, “Another ship on the scanner. Rycrit-class. Stealth model.” She let out a low, impressed whistle. “That’s a nice ship.”

“Identification?” Leia asked.

“Transponder’s not broadcasting one.”

Leia frowned. Friend or foe? “Get those shields ready just in case, Rey. We don’t know if this new ship is on our side or we’re about to jump from the skillet into the scalder.”

“Copy that.”

“—not your jurisdiction,” the first ship, the Ryloth government party, was saying to the new ship. “We can handle this.”

“Sorry, but I’ll be pulling rank on you, Lessu,” the female voice from the second ship said crisply. “You are to disengage this freighter under the authority of the RDA. We will take it from here.”

Silence on the Millennium Falcon as they waited. Rey kept her finger ready to bring up the shields on Leia’s order. Aftab muttered into his mic, a command for Finn and Freya to hold steady. The whole ship seemed to hold its breath.

“Copy,” the male voice said, finally. “RDA One, we have received your authorization code and are disengaging. With our apologies.”

“Copy, Lessu.”

Again, silence as the Millennium Falcon waited and then, “Corellian YT-1300 freighter, I am switching communications to a secured channel at the following frequency. Please engage in three, two . . .”

Rey let out a gasp of surprise. “It’s the Resistance channel.” She quickly punched in the new frequency. 

“Millennium Falcon, you are required to follow me.”

Leia leaned over Rey’s shoulder and pressed the transmit button. “This is General Leia Organa of the Resista—”

“We know who you are, General. Please follow us. You’re attracting too much attention up here.”

Leia raised an eyebrow at no one in particular. They weren’t exactly being rude, but they were being obtuse. Well, perhaps that’s what happened when one showed up unannounced. And they did have a point.

“Do as she says,” Leia said, dropping back into her seat. “Let’s see where this goes.”

Aftab nodded in acknowledgment, and the Millennium Falcon fell into formation behind the ship.

“They’re leading us away from the capital city,” Rey reported.

Not surprising. “Which way?”

“Toward the southern hemisphere. There are forests near the equator, but after that, it looks like open desert.” She made a small distressed sound. “Looks like Jakku,” she said, so quietly that Leia almost didn’t hear her.

Leia waited, but when Rey didn’t elaborate, she said, “Well, you did say the Millennium Falcon was headed for the southern hemisphere, so maybe they’re covering for us.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Maybe they want our cover story to stand up, too.” Well, as far as it could. They weren’t actually carrying any medical supplies, of course, but maybe way out here no one would look too closely if they were parked at the right place and left when expected. Or maybe it would be easy to make them disappear out here. No one would remember the Corellian freighter on such a routine run.

Soon they had crossed the equatorial forests and were flying over vast expanses of red-rock desert, cresting dunes and scattered striated mesas. Small settlements dotted the landscape but nothing that looked like a city.

A wide flat-topped mesa came into view. The lead ship, RDA One, flew in close, dipping into a canyon that blended effortlessly into the landscape. The Millennium Falcon followed.

“I don’t like this,” Rey said quietly. “Not a lot of room to maneuver down here.”

“Stay the course,” Leia reassured her. The cockpit thrummed with tension, all of them waiting to see if her gamble paid off. Only Aftab Ackbar looked calm, as if following strange and potentially hostile ships into unknown territory was all in a day’s work.

The opening narrowed. Despite her earlier protests, Rey handled the challenging landscape easily. RDA One dipped abruptly, and Leia saw it was leading them into a cave of some kind, a natural opening in the mountainside.

“Do we follow?” Rey asked, voice taut.

“We’ve come this far,” Leia replied.

“It could be a trap.”

“I don’t think so. If it was a trap, why bother bringing us all the way out here?”

“To hide the evidence?”

Leia glanced at Rey to see if the girl was joking, but her face looked serious. “I don’t think so,” she said.

“Excuse me, General,” C-3PO interrupted. “I don’t mean to counter your years of military experience and expertise—”

“Then don’t,” she murmured.

“—but the statistics are alarmingly high that a trap is likely considering—”

“Thank you, Threepio,” she said, as politely as she could manage.

“They’re landing,” Rey said, sharply, and Leia turned her attention back to the scene in front of her.

They had entered a hangar of some kind. The cave expanded exponentially, the ceiling lost far above them in the darkness. The floor below was buffed to a gleaming obsidian, traced over with glowing lines that delineated acceleration lanes and landing pads. They were in a cave, deep inside the side of a desert mountain, but in a fully functioning landing base.

“What is this?” Rey asked quietly.

“The RDA, apparently,” Leia said. She laughed quietly. “I think we’ve stumbled into exactly what we need.”

Rey brought the ship in smoothly, putting it down between the green glowing lines. The Millennium Falcon settled gently, the first time in three days that it had touched solid ground. Since Mon Cala. 

Leia exhaled and pushed herself up from her chair. She realized she hadn’t had a chance to clean up and had slept in her clothes. Well, whoever was waiting for them below would have to excuse her breach in civility. 

“Shall we?” she asked, unnecessarily. They were all on their feet, awaiting her command. She led the way and Rey, Aftab Ackbar, and C-3PO followed her out of the cockpit, the droid keeping up a steady stream of disapproval, citing terrible statistics and probabilities. Leia ignored him, focused on the task at hand. So much was riding on finding someone friendly on the other side of that door.

Finn, Rose, and Freya joined them at the outer doors. She gave them each a tight smile. Strength in numbers, she told herself. Even if the combined age of her entourage was nearly equal to her own. Well, maybe it wasn’t quite that bad—she wasn’t that old—but looking at their faces, knowing that their futures were not guaranteed, she certainly felt so today.

“Open the door,” Leia said to Rey. And to the others, “Weapons close but not drawn. I’m still hoping this is a friend.”

Rey punched the button. The boarding ramp of the Millennium Falcon lowered. Leia prayed that she wasn’t about to get anyone killed. She straightened her back, rising to her full height and lifting her chin. She was tired and hurting and it took effort. She reminded herself that she was still a princess so she damn well better look like one, even now. Especially now.

The view opened onto the bay they had seen from the cockpit view. Approaching them were two Twi’leks. A female with orange skin and eyes, dressed in a fitted sand-colored jumpsuit that had a definite utilitarian cast. Everything about the way she held herself said fighter, including the blaster in her hand. The other Twi’lek was male, pale purple with dark eyes, his lekku wrapped in black leather. He wore a version of the same jumpsuit. Leia noticed an unfamiliar insignia on the chest: two arms raised to fists, the chain connecting them broken down the center. She didn’t recognize the symbol, but she made note of it. Both Twi’leks looked competent and professional. Whatever they had stumbled into was, as she had deduced on the ship, an organized fighting force. She dug through her admittedly feeble knowledge of Ryloth history, trying to recall if there was any sort of guerrilla army on the planet anymore. The most notorious guerrilla leader had been Cham Syndulla, who had liberated Ryloth from the Separatists during the Clone Wars. But that was more than fifty years ago. These days Ryloth had a government and no need of an underground army. At least that had been her presumption.

“Welcome, Leia Organa,” the woman said, and Leia recognized her voice from the earlier transmissions. She also noticed that the woman had not used any of Leia’s numerous titles to address her—princess, senator, general. Interesting. Oversight? Insult? Or some sort of Twi’lek emphasis on egalitarianism? She would find out soon enough.

“Our mysterious escort,” she said, acknowledging the woman with a nod.

“Hahnee Brethen,” the woman introduced herself. “Pilot for the Ryloth Defense Authority.”

“Ah.” And there was Leia’s answer. “You’ll pardon my ignorance, but I’m not familiar with the defense authority.”

“And why would you be unless you’ve recently spent time on our planet?” the male Twi’lek asked, stepping forward and giving Leia a small bow. “Charth Brethen. Ambassador of the Ryloth Defense Authority.”

“Oh dear,” Threepio said from somewhere behind Leia’s shoulder. “I’m scanning my data banks and I find no record of the Ryloth Defense Authority.”

The woman looked slightly startled but the man, Charth, responded easily. “That’s because we aren’t officially part of any record you would have access to, droid. If we were, we wouldn’t be doing a very good job of staying off the scope.”

“And whose scope do you wish to stay off?” Leia asked pointedly.

Hahnee barked a laugh. “Who do you think?”

“You’ll have to excuse my sister,” Charth said, cutting in smoothly. “We’re a bit on edge after what happened to the Hosnian system, and not everyone thought it was a wise decision to allow you to land here.”

“I understand,” Leia said.

“I don’t know that you do,” Charth said. “We’re taking a risk, having you here. Should the First Order find out that we’ve given you aid, we become targets ourselves. You could drag us into war . . . or worse.” 

Leia nodded. Despite Charth’s accusation, she was all too aware of the danger that trailed the Resistance. “We are grateful,” she said simply. 

His eyes locked on hers, considering. Leia held his gaze until, finally, he broke it, with a small shrug. “It wasn’t our call,” he admitted, gesturing to encompass himself and his sister. “It was his. So an exception was made.” 

_His._ Leia smiled. She had gambled correctly. “I’d like to see him now, if I could. We don’t have much time.” 

Rey and Finn fell into step beside her as Charth and Hahnee led them away. Rey had readily agreed to accompany Leia, but she had insisted on bringing her staff and Finn. To Leia’s mild surprise, their escorts didn’t object. C-3PO trailed them, happily commenting on Leia’s wise decision to bring him along since, as a protocol droid, he was most qualified to assist her. Rose and Freya stayed behind, watching over the Falcon and stood guard. 

They crossed the length of the cave that remained relatively bright and airy. The rock ceiling stretched so far above their heads that Leia didn’t feel claustrophobic in the enclosed space as she thought she might. She watched Rey and Finn to see if they minded, but the both of them seemed calm and observant, in their element. Leia was pleased to see it. C-3PO, however, insisted on rattling off half the known history of Ryloth as they made their way deeper into the caverns, which appeared to annoy Hahnee and amuse Charth. Leia found it mildly educational and appreciated C-3PO’s efforts.

The droid said, “Did you know that early in the Clone Wars, your ancestor Anakin Skywalker helped fight for Ryloth against the droid armies? The Ryloth forces were led by Cham Syndulla, a terrorist—”

“Freedom fighter,” Hahnee growled, getting in C-3PO’s face.

“I beg your pardon?”

“He’s a hero here, Threepio,” Leia corrected him. “While Imperial records may have labeled him a terrorist, here among his own people he’s considered a freedom fighter.”

“Oh, of course. I meant no offense. My historical records are often, well, historical. I will make the notation immediately.”

“Great,” Leia said brightly as they’d entered another passage, this one seemingly lit from within.

They had reached a wide, round stone door. The door was a deep garnet-colored stone. Burned into the door was the same symbol Charth wore on his chest, the symbol Leia had come to think of as ‘chainbreaker’. Charth pressed his hand against the door until it lit from within, bathing them briefly in a blood-red light, and then he pressed the door open. Hahnee went through first, stepping over the low threshold and ducking slightly to pass underneath the lintel. Charth gestured Leia in next, and she followed, Rey and Finn on her heels. He came through last, pulling the door shut behind him.

At first glance, Leia thought they had entered a throne room. The space stretched before them over a hundred meters, stone under their feet, the same garnet as the door behind them. The walls were equally distant, a pale-pink stone heavily veined with silver and white, and Leia could see they were lined with . . . were those books? Scrolls, maps, bound books, and various forms of what looked like paper records filled shelves that looked like they had been carved out of the stone walls. Directly in front of Leia, the cave opened onto a massive balcony that overlooked the entire desert valley. She could see the hint of a sunset blossoming outside past the energy shield that held the blowing sand out and kept the chill in. In fact, this room was noticeably colder than the rest of the cave system had been, enough that she shivered and rubbed her hands along her arms. And there, between her and the balcony, where she expected a throne to be, sat a desk. Regal in its own way, its size three times that of a normal table and carved from a single piece of what looked like petrified wood. It was also practical, piled with holocards and a communications transmission module. And sitting behind it, the man she had come to Ryloth to see.

He stood now to approach them. He wore a heavy robe, black with blue and silver embroidery, draped over his broad shoulders. His face was lost in the hood, but as he came closer, he lifted blue-skinned hands and pushed the hood from his face. It was a Twi’lek face, more handsome than Leia had remembered him. Age had been kind to him, had chiseled away some of his previous boyish appearance and left him looking distinguished. His lekku were patterned in a molten swirl of sky and ocean, and he wore them tied back with a sort of golden headpiece that reminded Leia a bit of a crown. But the man she had always known had no interest in power, and certainly this room he surrounded himself with didn’t speak to power as much as it spoke to a reverence of knowledge, despite its grandiosity.

“Princess Leia,” he said, his voice resonating with respect.

“It’s general now,” she joked, warmly.

“Princess, senator, general. Is there nothing you cannot do?” he observed.

“It doesn’t look like you’re doing too poorly yourself.”

“This isn’t mine,” he said. “This was once the Ryloth Historical Society’s library. When they decided to found the RDA, they wanted us out of the capital, far enough away from Lessu that if it was lost, there would be a place to regroup. This”—he gestured to take in the room, the cave, the entire facility—“was available.”

She took in his rich robe, the coronet that held back his lekku, and then let her gaze travel around the room. “And what should I call you these days? Scholar, historian, librarian?” She paused. “General?”

“No, Your Highness. You call me what you’ve always called me. My name.”

She smiled, fully confident that she could still call this man a friend. A friend that she was about to ask to risk his life, his home, and his very people. But she had no choice.

“Hello, Yendor,” she said.

He acknowledged her with a solemn nod. The previous lightness of their banter had all but evaporated, replaced with the tension of expectation and need.

“You need my help.”

“Desperately.”

“I heard the rumors,” Yendor said, thoughtfully. “Reports of a destroyed fleet, rumors of Luke Skywalker seen again and then gone . . . is it true?”

“It’s true,” Leia said, and the admission only hurt a little.

“And how was Luke? Will he be joining . . . is he part of this?”

“Luke is gone,” Leia said quietly, and that one hurt a lot, after all.

Yendor glanced up. “You mean . . ?”

“Yes.”

The Twi’lek leaned back in his chair. “So there are no more Jedi.”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” Leia said. She gave Rey and Finn a reassuring smile, but the young girl only looked at her like a frightened skittermouse while the young lad held her hand. Yendor watched the exchange curiously.

“I’m afraid I’ve forgotten your names,” he said to Rey and Finn.

“I’m Rey,” she said quickly. “I’m just a junker from Jakku.”

“I doubt that if you’re with Princess Leia.”

“Or I was. Now I’m a . . . pilot.”

Finn then speaks up. “She’s also a Jedi in training. And she’s been amazing so far.” He smiles gently and Rey’s cheeks flushed pink, giving his hand a loving squeeze.

He nods and looks at Finn. “And you?” 

“Finn. Renounced Stormtrooper. Jedi in training as well.” 

“They were also Luke’s apprentices.” Leia said. 

“Well, you two are certainly something.” Yendor was impressed and refrained for a moment. “I dedicated my entire life to fighting for what’s right,” his voice firm. “Ryloth will maintain its neutrality, but helping refugees is simply doing the right thing for fellow people.”

Charth stood to pace, legs moving him back and forth along the polished red floors. “I understand, Father, and I’m sympathetic. But we’re calling the Resistance refugees now? No one will buy it.”

Leia let out a small noise of surprise. Father? Charth was Yendor’s son?

Yendor shrugged. “I don’t think I care.”

His son barked an incredulous laugh. “I thought your freedom fighting days were over.”

“So did I, but apparently not.” He then turns to Leia, giving her a nod. 

_I’ll come back for you. I promise._

The words made Nova’s heavy eyelids open to see a dark grey ceiling hanging over her with fluorescent lights shining down on her. She could hear small beeps from her left hand side, slightly turning her head which made pain shoot around in all different directions across her lobes. She was in the Finalizer’s medbay, laying down and was hooked up to a machine that read her vitals off. 

Shifting her attention downwards, she realized that she wasn’t in her outfit that she had been wearing. She has changed into a sickbay gown, white and dazzling to the eye. Nova winces, trying to sit herself up but the entire right side of her body was struck with unfathomable pain, causing her to sink directly back into the pillows and thick blankets. 

Halting, she sensed someone in the room and softly lulls her head off to the side, seeing an older boy in black clad, staring down at her lightsaber hilt. She gently smiles, knowing him from anywhere. 

Without needing to say anything, he felt her and glanced up, their eyes meeting for the first time in days. “Nova.” 

She noticed the dribbles of sweat above his lip and how his eyes glistened from crying? She wasn’t exactly sure if she was seeing it right or not, but she did see that they were glassy. 

“Ben,” her voice weakly calls out and he stands from the chair that he’s been sitting in for a while now, making his way over to her and kneels down at her bedside. “How long have I been out?” 

“Four days.” 

If she could have managed, her eyes would’ve widened from the news. “Four?” 

Kylo nods. “Found you on the streets on Mon Cala. The Quarrens were very keen on taking you to kill.” 

Nova frowned, trying to think back to how the one knocked her out cold with the power shovel. “You . . You were there?” 

“I sensed you.” Kylo tells her, his gloved hand reaching her pale one from under the blanket. “I felt when he had hit you, and I . . . I got so angry.” 

“You didn’t—”

“No.” He instantly states. “But I wanted to. You got hurt and I wasn’t there to stop it, but I was able to get you out before anything else could happen. The Knights made sure of that.” 

Nova held his hand tight, or at least what she believed was tight, her arms were numb but still maintained some feeling. 

“Did Armitage—”

Kylo shakes his head, already knowing what she was going to ask. “No. I made sure he didn’t. Mon Cala was vandalized but it is still a planet.” 

Thoughts. So many thoughts were swirling within Nova’s mind: she wanted to know about Kylo’s trip, where he went, and why he was gone for so long. She wanted to know what happened over the four days that she was unconscious. She also wanted to know where her clothes went and who had dressed her. But a long time burning question was bubbling to the surface and for now, she chose that to start with. 

“Ben,” she licks her chapped lips, “did . . Did Hux order for Bylsma’s planet to be blown up when he was first testing Starkiller Base?” 

“Yes.” 

“Bylsma was still on the planet, wasn’t he?” 

This time, he hesitated but eventually said, “Yes.” 

Tears came to her eyes, slipping from the corners and running down into her ears. Somewhere, deep down, she knew that. Like how she knew that her parents abandoned her and Rey on Jakku with the intention of never coming back, then dying in the desert sands. She hid the truth like a secret from herself because living a lie was so much easier than facing harsh reality. 

Kylo frowned. He hated seeing Nova being upset, he wanted to cheer her up or do something to make her feel better so he did something that she had done to him before. He closed his eyes, focusing on their mental connection and wrapped her up in it, breathing through his nose and allowed her to see an orange and pink sunset that he used to watch when he was growing up on Chandrila. Eerily enough, it used to be the exact same one that Nova used to picture late at night when she was growing up and because of the mental image, it’s the reason why orange became her favorite color. 

Once he felt her relief, Kylo opened his eyes to see her calm and her eyes resting calmly as she went back to sleep. She was exhausted, hurt, and worn down by the many emotions that felt once she awoke. She slowly let her hand go, fixing the fly-aways that were in front of her face and learned forwards, giving her forehead a gentle kiss. 

Elsie came in, knocking on the door to signal her presence. Kylo backed away slowly, still staring over Nova. “She’s stable?” 

Kylo nods. 

“Did you find anything out? About Cassius?” She then asks in a lower voice. 

He stands, hooking Nova’s lightsaber next to his on his belt and faces the cyborg that he had rescued many years ago. “He fled to try and save his daughter from being found by a Sith loyalist named Ochi of Bestoon.” 

She gasps. “Why would Ochi want the child?” 

Kylo then darts over his shoulder at Nova, his gaze lingering. “Because she’s the last of the Palpatine bloodline that’s Force sensitive.”


	21. To Be Better

A new day brought Nova up onto her feet and Elsie who was doing a quick scan of her body, making sure that nothing was broken and having her do simple hand coordination skills. Kylo stood over by the door, his eyes glued onto the two beings, overseeing the examination. Nova kept sneaking glances over at him, thankful that Elsie had dressed her arms in white gauze so he, nor she, could see the horrible marks that branded her during childhood. 

“Nova,” Elsie says softly and she faces her, tearing eyes away from Kylo. “How many fingers am I holding up?” 

“Four.” 

Elsie then switches her digits. “And now?” 

“One.” 

She smiles and drops her hand at her side. “Heart rate is steady, oxygen levels are normal, eyesight’s in good shape. Comprehensive, don’t seem to have any sort of concussion or hearing damage. No broken bones, sprains, or fractures.” 

Nova nodded through her ongoing list, reaching to rub the leather cuff on her left wrist but faltered, remembering that it wasn’t there and uncomfortably shifted. When Elsie changed her into the medbay clothing, she had taken everything off to wash and decontaminate, that included her last connection to Rey. She felt naked without it, too exposed, which was a lot to say considering what was coming next. 

“Last thing is to check that gnarly bruise on your side.” The cyborg comments then rotates her body to Kylo and shoos him to leave, to give the young girl privacy but he just turns around, folding his arms in front of his chest. 

Not daring to put up with an useless argument, Elsie watches as Nova raises her hands and she pulls up on the gown over her head. The cold air made goosebumps rise on her skin and Elsie bends down, examining the discoloration. It was slowly changing to a hue of brown and yellow, meaning that it was healing slowly but there were still small specs of purple and blue within it. She gently presses around the surrounding area of Nova’s ribcage and hip, asking if anything caused her discomfort and Nova shook her head “no”. 

“It’s healing, that’s a good thing. Should be cleared up in one or two days.” Elsie comments, resting Nova’s gown back down. “You’re healthy and whole.” 

“When can I get my clothes back?” Nova asked, only really wanting her cuff. 

“Tomorrow. There’s nothing to worry about. Just rest.” She then whispers, “I mean it.” 

Nova averted her gaze, staring down at her bare feet against the linoleum flooring. Elsie had caught her late last night trying to mock fight in the training center, despite not resting and allowing her body to heal. Not once in her life has she ever rested; it was always go and do, and it was hard to let go of something that you were accustomed to for all your life. Elsie agreed not to tell Kylo because he was dead set on her recovering but he knew, Nova knew that he did. 

He faced forwards again and she looked at him, her eyes squinting from the vivid lights within the room. Her lightsaber was still hooked onto his belt and she felt her fingers twitch, wanting it in her grasp to make her feel better but she shook off the feeling and focused back on Elsie. 

“I’ll bring you in some soup.” She motions back to the bed and Nova slips in under the knitted blanket, the cyborg leaving shortly after. 

The room fell silent, Kylo and Nova sharing the same space for the first time in a long time and he couldn’t help but just marvel at her. Those memories of hers, all playing before his eyes as he kept his gaze locked on her small, bruised face: the lonely nights where she hugged herself asleep, the shouting of her owners whenever she didn’t meet their expectations, being treated as an animal who was fed scraps from a dinner plate. Then Bylsma. The man who protected her, who told her stories to fall asleep and fed her well. The man who taught her that you have to be the good in the world in order to remind others that there’s still light in the darkest of times. 

Kylo still remembers hearing the news of General Hux testing his super weapon on the jungle planet, he had been away on a mission and when he came back, he was told by Supreme Leader Snoke about it. Took him nearly a week before he could eye Nova in the face; that was currently the only thing he missed about his mask. His emotions were covered and hidden away, he was able to react without being seen—but not anymore. 

“What are you thinking about?” 

Kylo snaps out of his thoughts, his eyes readjusting and seeing Nova just looking at him, patiently waiting for his answer. “You.” He truthfully remarks. 

Her gaze drops, he takes a mental note. “Wh . . . What about me?” 

_A lot of things. Too many to properly fathom and organize into coherent sentences._ He wanted to say but bit the inside of his cheek instead. 

The root of his problem was that with learning the truth of her father, he’s been searching for any answers and leads as to what happened to him and where he had vanished to. He couldn’t possibly tell her because he didn’t want to let her down if there was nothing to find. After all, just like how he saw her with her mother and her stepfather—which she still didn’t know about—Nova hid away the truth of them never coming back because it wounded her horribly. He couldn’t take the chance of telling her that the man she believed was her father was only just a man who had little meaning to her, who was the real blood relative of her half sister Rey. In a sense, he was her dad but it didn’t change the fact that she had the genealogy of the long lived Emperor coursing through her veins. 

“Do you regret choosing to stay with me?” The words came out faster than anything. Maybe it was his own self doubt bubbling to the surface and searching for an answer just like how she was still searching the memory to see the silhouetted man with her mother on the freighter that still echoed in her recollection as it rocketed off towards Jakku’s horizon. 

Nova takes in his body language: his eye twitched slightly, eyebrows furrowed, his arms at his sides but she could tell that his hands were in softly clenched fists in preparation of her hesitating answer. She sensed his fear, it dripping out of him like a faucet that hadn’t been turned the entire way to shut off the water. It was slow, steady, bit by bit, drop by drop. He was running on empty very soon. 

She slips her slender, pale legs out over the side of her bed, standing up on them and making sure to fix the hem of her gown as she did. Taking gliding steps towards him, she carried herself weightlessly and paused before him. Kylo swallows harshly, his larynx bobbing from the energy that buzzed around them. He cursed at himself mentally for never getting used to the feeling but she was just that invigorating. Did she still have no idea just how crazy she drove him? To be so close to her and feel their electrifying chemistry? It was something so cosmic, so profound and it lured him to close in the gap between their bodies. 

Nova reaches for his hand, bringing it up and places it on her chest, above her heart. She closes her eyes and he watches her with such interest as to what she was doing, then he felt it. Just as before, he sensed how their hearts had the same rhythm. They were connected, they were one and the same. Their link was tightening, suffocating and he snuggled within its grip. It was in this moment that he knew that he never wanted to be without it, that he would rather die than have it. That he’d fight, claw, and slash everything in his wake if it dared to threaten to take away what he and Nova had. 

With ease, he closes his eyes and meditates with her, focusing solely on her heartbeat. It was soothing, the pattern seemingly travelling into his own body and it finding solace. Kylo found himself asking how could it be possible: how could a person mean this much to another? Is this how his father felt when he first met Leia? A new awareness suddenly washed over him. It was a smile from Nova and the mental image of it flashed before his closed eyes. 

“You feel me,” she whispers. “Like how I only feel you.” 

He peels his eyes open, seeing hers still closed and her nose doing a small scrunch as she perceives something through their bond. Her left hand raises, touching his body where his own heart rested from within and draws in a calming breath. There was a slight tingle in his brain and he knew it was her, she was reaching and he wanted to close her off in case she found out what he had seen about her past but if he had, it’d be too suspicious. So he waited, and waited, and waited until finally . . . 

Nova’s hazel eyes met him and they held marvelment. “You kissed me,” 

She was referring to when she passed out and he had planted his lips onto her forehead. Kylo wasn’t exactly the most humble, heart on the sleeve kind of guy but with her, he had been so careful and gentle. The simple act of giving her affection, however, that was something that was new. Her lips grew into a soft grin: was this the blossoming stages of Ben Solo peaking through the hard exterior of Kylo Ren? 

Her hand that was on his chest snakes over and up to rest on his cheek, her thumb stroking the scar tenderly. His own hand mirrors her actions but rather settling on her face, it roams to the side of her throat, his fingers pressing into the back of her neck securely. Leaning up and in on her tippy toes, Nova places a kiss under his eye, on his scar. She stays there for a moment and Kylo absentmindedly applies pressure on the back of her neck to try and make her get as close as humanly possible. 

A knock on the door echoes out and they both break away as Armitage Hux enters. “Ah, good. Nice to see you up and about, Ms. Hux.” He firmly stands, giving her a nod. “We’ll be heading to Lessu.” 

“What’s in Lessu?” 

“From the Mon Cala civilians that took shots at us, we lost many expensive ships and we need more. As well the need to levy some taxes to raise revenue. I’ve given them five days for the Ryloth shipping guild to voluntarily tithe to the First Order before we blockade the shipping lanes in and out of the system and start leveraging tariffs.” 

Nova didn’t mean to laugh. “We’re going to form a blockade? Really? Why?” 

“Pride, Ms. Hux.” Armitage grins. “It is pride. A victory in Ryloth—it would be to show the strength of the Order.” 

Leia watched Poe, Black Squadron, and the rest of the hope for the Resistance come in over the open desert. They practically skimmed the ground, running low with minimum lights despite the dark of night. If she hadn’t known they were there, and what they were, she might have thought them some sort of natural phenomenon, a swarm of light-emitting migrating insects or some strange desert illusion. As the ships grew closer, she heard the telltale howl of X-wing engines. Well, there was no disguising that. But you had to be close to hear it, and Yendor had assured her that the locals, what few there were out here, were loyal Rylothians.

The last of the ships, this one not a starfighter but a small transport that looked more yacht than anything else, crossed over the desert and disappeared into the mountain below her. She sighed. That was it, then. She’d counted ten X-wings, an A-wing, Poe’s loaner from the Hutt, two smaller civilian transports, and that yacht. Not a lot with which to fight your enemy but more than they’d had yesterday. And so it would go. Every day more than yesterday until they had a fighting force. Or at least that was the idea. She tried not to think about the losses they would take along the way.

“Leia!” A voice called, and she looked up to find Poe Dameron heading her way. 

“Commander,” she greeted Poe as he approached. He flushed brightly. He ran a hand through his thick dark curls and dipped his chin, chagrined.

“General,” he amended his greeting with a nod. “Sorry for the informality. Just glad to see you.”

“I’m glad to see you, too, Poe.” She hadn’t really meant to correct him, just remind him that they were here in front of potential new leadership and that they should set an example. “Walk with me and tell me what we have.”

He walked her through the hangar, pointing as they went. “The two pilots there you know from Black Squadron, Jessica Pava and Suralinda Javos. The woman with them is ex-Imperial-officer Teza Nasz. They found her on Rattatak after fighting in the death pits.”

He pointed to the eastern quadrant where Jess and Suralinda had parked their ships. Jess was bent over, talking to her astromech. Her dark hair was matted on the side with what looked like blood. Leia made a note to make sure the pilot got medical attention immediately. To her left, Suralinda was greeting a woman who had made her way over from the civilian transport ship. The woman was imposing, unusually tall and rippling with what seemed to be hard-won muscle. She wore a one-shouldered jumpsuit that looked like it had been stitched together from a mixture of animal hides and discarded armor. Her exposed arm displayed an elaborate stretch of short slashing lines that had been cut into her dark skin from shoulder to elbow, and below the elbow she wore a leather bracer. Her thick hair was dyed blood red and she held it back in dreadlocks that trailed down her back.

Leia stifled an incredulous laugh. “That warlord is ex-Imperial?”

“So they say,” Poe said. “She was an officer in the Imperial Navy. Some sort of genius strategist that was involved in the Battle of Jakku, but when that went sideways for the Empire, she was assumed dead on the Ravager. Turns out she just went to ground and only popped back up on Suralinda’s scope because of a story about Rattatak fielding a shockball team in some major tournament. Suralinda recognized her from a background picture. They used to know each other.”

Leia pressed her lips together, thinking. “Well, she looks like a warrior, not a strategist, but perhaps I shouldn’t judge by looks alone. If she dropped off New Republic scopes that thoroughly and was able to rise to power on Rattatak, she’s probably both. What’s her name,

again?”

“Teza Nasz.”

As if hearing her name, Nasz turned her head toward them. Her face was painted in streaks of ocher and coal lines vertically crossing her cheeks, and she narrowed dark watchful eyes at Leia. Leia returned her gaze until the woman turned away. Oh, she would be interesting.

“Who else?”

“Princess Leia?” an excited feminine voice cut in. Both Leia and Poe turned.

Anya Khan beamed at them and stepped forward to shake Leia’s hand. The pilot’s long dark brown hair was tousled, and her eyes looked tired under the thick eyebrows on her delicate face. But she smiled gamely, and her handshake was strong.

“It’s good to finally meet you in person, Anya. Poe fondly speaks of you at every chance he gets.” Leia said, greeting the young adult. “Where’s Shriv?” 

“Over here,” a blue-skinned Duros said, joining them. He looked tired, too. His skin looked sallow under the cave lights, and lines ran like rivers under his large red eyes. He swiped a hand over his noseless face and grinned through thin, almost nonexistent lips. “Good to see you again, General.”

“How was your mission?” Leia inquired.

“Well, I survived,” Shriv said laconically. “But I did get a rash in an unmentionable place that still hasn’t cleared. Don’t suppose you have some kind of cream for that?”

Leia gave him a grave look. “I’m sure someone in medical can fix you up.”

“And I could use a nap. And some food. I hear they’ve got fruit here. And meat. Is it true, or did we arrive too late for all the good stuff?”

“The Twi’leks have been very generous. There’s plenty to go around.”

“Sweet!” Shriv rubbed at his face and stifled a yawn that threatened to crack his jaw. “Over at the civilian transport is who I found.” 

They started their way over and he began filling Leia in about his mission, Anya and Poe following after to listen in. 

“I looked everywhere,” he said, sounding exasperated. “Most of the leads were dead ends and some of the people I was trying to find were . . . well, they were dead. More dead people on our list than alive.” Shriv’s face clouded over. “And a handful that have just disappeared. One day they’re going about their own business and the next they don’t show up for work. Their families have no idea where they are, the authorities won’t take it seriously and say they must have run off, but it doesn’t make sense.”

“Disappeared,” Poe chimed in, expression concerned. “Maz told Anya and I something similar.”

“What does it mean?” Shriv asked.

“The First Order, most likely. If we know about these potential allies, so do they. They’re just getting to them first.”

They had reached the edge of the ramp to the transport shuttle. A motley group of people were gathered there. Leia spotted Charth’s two children moving among the crowd, offering hot towels and pouring pitchers of water into clay cups so the newcomers could refresh themselves. There was a low hum of chatter among the group that broke off as Leia approached.

A man separated from the small crowd, and Leia’s brows raised in disbelief.

“This is—” Shriv began.

“I know who this is,” Leia murmured. “General Rieekan.”

The Alderaanian man grinned through a nest of thick wrinkles, his blue eyes still as bright and intelligent as Leia remembered. He stepped forward and embraced her. After a moment he stepped away, holding her at arm’s length. She could see tears gathered in the corners of his eyes. “How long has it been, Leia? Thirty years?”

“Feels more like forty,” she said with a rueful shake of her head. Leia felt a surge of relief. A familiar face, and one she had looked up to long ago. Emotion threatened to overwhelm her, and she felt her own tears looming. The burden she had been carrying since Crait lifted, if only a little.

“I’m glad you’ve come,” she said, her voice warm with feeling.

“I couldn’t not come. When Shriv showed up at my door, the answer was obvious. And Ryloth beats Hoth as a command post, even if we are in the middle of nowhere.”

“To die by ice or fire,” Shriv quipped morosely as he joined them, the silver corner of a packet of medicated cream peeking out of the breast pocket of his jacket. “Our options are underwhelming.”

“Who says we’re going to die?” came another voice. 

Rieekan stepped aside to usher the new speaker into their circle. “I brought a friend,” he explained.

“Princess Leia.” The Dressellian male who had spoken greeted her with a bow. His fur-lined cream-colored cape flared out around his short frame. The fabric was a shade lighter than his orange-tinted skin, and his hairless head was a map of brain folds. He wore a jaunty black patch over one eye; the other gleamed dark as night.

“Welcome,” Leia said politely. The Dressellian looked familiar but she couldn’t quite place him.

“This is Orrimaarko,” Rieekan said, saving her from having to ask.

“Of course,” Leia said brightly, remembering immediately. “The Battle of Endor. You were there.”

Shouting erupted somewhere behind her, and Leia turned, searching for the source of the argument. A commotion, back near the quadrant where she had seen Jess Pava and Suralinda and that formidable ex-Imperial. Voices rose in what were distinct fighting words, and then that telltale sound of knuckles against the flesh of someone’s cheek.

“A fight!” Shriv shouted, sounding excited.

Poe and Anya took off running toward the growing melee, and Leia let out a long heavy sigh. Who was it? Yendor’s people? Black Squadron? That ex-Imperial who looked like a walking invitation to rumble?

Well, she thought as she and the rest of the crowd headed toward the fight, she’d find out soon enough.

Poe arrived at the fight just as one of the pilots Snap had brought in from Phantom Squadron went sliding across the floor, his feet skidding out from under him in a streak of blood. 

“What in the hell?” Poe murmured, taking in the scene. To his left was the ex-Imperial, Teza Nasz. She was breathing hard, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She had a cut above one of her eyes that bled freely, streaking the ocher on her cheeks and dripping on the floor like rubies against the black stone. The woman surged forward, a pillar of muscle, but Jess hurried to stop her. She wrapped a hand around the woman’s arm, pulling her back, pleading in words that Poe couldn’t hear this far away.

To his right, Snap and another man were helping the Phantom Squadron pilot Poe didn’t know up from the floor over his protests that he was fine and didn’t need their help.

The gathered assembly had created a loose circle around the two combatants, clearly ready to cheer on the fight. Poe looked at their faces. They were a fair mix of rebel veterans—graybeards left over from the war with the Empire—and fresh faces that looked like they couldn’t be long out of flight school, if they ever attended flight school at all. The absurdity of it all flashed through his mind. The old and the young, both caught up in this war, both fighting for the same things, yet somehow fighting each other. _Might as well punch yourself in the face,_ he thought. That last thought stopped him in his tracks. Is that what Maz had been trying to tell him? That he was fighting himself?

“Poe,” a familiar voice called. Poe shook the unsettling thought from his mind and looked over to see Snap’s wife. 

“What in the hell is going on?”

“Agoyo swung first,” Karé Kun offered. She was evaluating the ex-Imperial with something that looked like appreciation.

“I’m not sure I care,” Poe said, somewhere between disgusted and tired. “We’re all on the same side here. What is this about?” He waved his hand in the general direction of the circle of bystanders.

“You should care!” shouted the young pilot Karé had named as Agoyo. He was back on his feet, but the uniform he wore was streaked with blood that wasn’t his. That uniform wasn’t his, either. Or at least it had belonged to someone else before Agoyo claimed it. For one, it was at least a size too big, but the giveaway was the Phantom Squadron patch. This kid was way too young to have been part of Phantom Squadron.

Poe raised an eyebrow. “Identify yourself, pilot.” He hated to call the young man out, but he also knew that he needed to put an end to whatever this was right now, before grudges were formed and things got even more complicated.

Agoyo tossed his black hair out of his eyes defiantly. He crossed thin arms over a square chest, and his expressive mouth twisted now in something close to contempt. Poe shook his head. Agoyo was this close to insubordination.

“Name, pilot,” he repeated crisply.

“Pacer,” the kid practically spit. “Pacer Agoyo.”

“Pacer.” Poe gave him a nod of acknowledgment. “You know who I am?”

Pacer nodded. “Poe Dameron.”

“No. I’m your commanding officer,” Poe corrected him. “And frankly, right now I’m not impressed with what I see. I understand you’ve come a long way to join us . . .” He left the statement open until Pacer spoke. 

“Nuja. My dad flew with Phantom Squadron at Kashyyyk but he’s dead. So I came instead.”

That explained the uniform. “I appreciate your father’s service, and your willingness to join the Resistance, but unfortunately, it looks like you’re not a good fit for this mission. You’re free to leave.” Poe very purposefully turned his back on the pilot. Small gasps of shock echoed around him, and then silence. He caught Leia’s eye. She was standing back at the edge of the crowd, watching.

Poe heard Pacer shifting in his boots. He cocked his head slightly to indicate he was waiting.

Finally Pacer spoke. “Poe . . . I mean, Commander Dameron. I-I want to stay, sir. Please. It’s just . . .”

Poe could almost feel the emotion flowing off the young pilot like a living thing. The kid was deep into it, whatever it was. Not embarrassment, not regret. Maybe righteousness. Righteousness and rage.

He turned. “It’s just what, Agoyo?”

Pacer wasn’t looking at him. He was focused on Teza Nasz. And his gaze burned hot, all that rage bubbling to the surface.

“Do you know each other?” Poe asked, a suspicion forming in his mind.

“She murdered my brother!” Pacer growled. He took a step forward, fists rising.

“Agoyo!” Poe barked sharply, drawing the young man’s attention to himself.

Pacer froze.

“Eyes on me,” he said, and now their eyes met. “You will stop menacing Teza Nasz, or I will have you thrown in the brig until you can cool down. Is that understood?” Poe wondered if they even had a brig, but certainly they could improvise, if necessary. He hoped it wouldn’t be necessary.

Pacer Agoyo paled. At first Poe thought Agoyo would shake him off, but instead some of the bubbling anger seemed to dissipate. He sighed with relief and turned to Teza. 

“Well?” Poe asked, turning to the ex-Imperial. He knew next to nothing about the woman, but he would have to figure her out quickly. He needed everyone’s buy-in, or this wouldn’t work. Simmering resentments, distrust, and personal grudges would kill this new Resistance just as quickly as an attack by the First Order.

Teza turned a painted, blood-streaked face toward Poe. “It’s possible I killed his brother,” she admitted coolly, “but I don’t remember.” She straightened to her full height, easily just shy of two meters, her eyes roaming over the gathered crowd. “It’s possible that I killed all of your brothers. And cousins. And mothers and fathers and former lovers.” Her voice was flat and unforgiving. “It was my job.”

“Then why are you here?” Poe asked, voice calm, curious but not accusing.

Teza focused back on Poe, looking mildly surprised. “Because it was wrong,” she said simply. “But I didn’t know it at the time.”

“You were young and ambitious,” Poe said, taking a guess, “so you joined the Empire.”

His conjecture was rewarded with a startled nod. “Mostly hungry,” she murmured, “but yes.”

“You joined the Empire,” Poe said, eyes roving the room before resting on Shriv, “just like your mother.”

“My mother was an Imperial officer,” He said quietly. “But she defected. She and my father. They died for the Resistance. Ask Leia. She knows.”

“Suralinda?” Poe called, raising his voice slightly. 

Suralinda was sitting on a bench watching the scene before her with glittering eyes, no doubt taking mental notes for another story. “I didn’t give a care about either side much,” she admitted breezily. “I was ready to sell Resistance secrets if it would get me what I wanted. Oh wait, I did.” She laughed at the stunned faces around her. “Relax,” she said. “I came around.”

Poe smiled tightly and tried not to think about yelling at her to choose her words with a bit more care, but she had made his point.

“And you?” Poe asked, turning lastly to Finn, who had been idling in the background next to Rey.

Finn stepped forward immediately. “Used to be a stormtrooper, but now I’m accepting my path as a Jedi to try and maintain a balance,” he said, pressing a fist over his heart. “Until the end.”

“My point,” Poe said, turning back to Agoyo, “is that many of us have dubious beginnings, but it is how we end that counts.”

“My father was Darth Vader,” Leia said, pitching her voice so that it rang out clearly through the room. “Is there anyone who wants to question my loyalty to the Resistance?”

The room was wisely silent. Poe nodded his thanks, and she returned it before stepping back.

“What about you?” One the old rebel pilots from the original Phantom Squadron spoke. He resembled a human, but his skin was a dusty gray and his pate was hairless, either by genetics or by design. Poe didn’t know him, but he knew his type immediately. The way he stood, legs planted wide, shoulders squared from carrying that chip around. He was going to be a pain in the ass, but he also looked like someone the other pilots would follow. Poe had a feeling he needed him on their side, troublemaker or not.

“What about me?”

“I heard the stories,” the man said. “About what happened on the Raddus. To Holdo.” The man thumped his chest. “I fought with Holdo. She was a good leader.”

Poe felt queasy. Panic fluttered in his chest, and his hands felt clammy. Some small voice inside screamed that he was caught, that his worst nightmare was coming true. Part of him wanted to hide, to shrink back and let someone else handle it before he royally screwed it all up again, but Maz’s admonition rang in his head. Was he a leader or not? Was all his talk about giving his blood, sweat, and tears to the survival of the Resistance just that? Or did he mean it?

He made himself breathe deeply and then exhale. He met the man’s accusing gaze head-on. “I agree,” Poe said simply.

“You _agree_?” the veteran sneered. He propped massive hands on his hips. “That’s not what I heard, Poe Dameron. That’s not what any of us heard.” He gestured to the pilots around him. “You’re the one who should be in the brig,” the veteran said, emboldened. “Or better yet, tossed out of an air lock.”

Grunts and murmurs of approval, and Poe’s heart sank. They were right, to a degree, but they also hadn’t been there. Hadn’t seen their forces decimated, hadn’t felt the desperation, the fear. Poe was a man of action and he had been grounded, made helpless, and he had almost burned it all to the ground because he couldn’t take it.

“You’re right,” Poe said, loud enough to carry over the crowd. “You’re absolutely right. I disobeyed a direct order, I got people killed, I undermined my commander, and led a mutiny. And if you don’t think that eats me up, that it haunts me every day, every minute, then you don’t know a damn thing.”

Restless movement, some of the pilots muttering, but they were listening.

“And yeah, you could lock me up, throw me into space, but you tell me how that helps the Resistance? How does that bring down the First Order? Because, trust me, if I thought my death would bring them down, I’d sacrifice myself in a heartbeat.” He snapped his fingers.

“Poe,” Finn said, shaking his head.

Poe started to warn Finn off, but Anya stepped forward. “Poe’s my squad leader and I trust him with my life. There’s no one else I want leading Black Squadron.”

“He saved our butts over Grail City, just a few days ago.” That was Jess.

“And he saved mine on Jakku,” Finn said.

“And mine on Crait,” someone else said.

“And mine,” came another voice.

The testimonials rose to a crescendo, a dozen men and women bearing witness.

Poe bowed his head, overwhelmed. It was more than he could have asked for, more than he deserved.

Finally, the declarations died down, and a calm settled over the crowd. He looked up, scanning the faces, stopping for a moment to smile at Finn and nod to Anya, willing their support to buoy his voice. There was one more thing to say.

“We’ve all made choices,” Poe said. “Choices that caused harm, led to destruction, even at times death. We are all responsible for our deeds. The great and the terrible. But if we define ourselves only by what we’ve done, only by our failures, then this Resistance, this spark? It dies here and now.”

He waited a moment, but no one interrupted. _Keep going,_ he told himself. 

“We’re all here because we have a chance to change things. A chance to change the galaxy. A chance to change ourselves. But we have to make that commitment. That choice. A choice . . .” Poe hesitated. It sounded good when he’d started, but now he was fumbling. He looked around as if trying to summon the words from the air around him. 

“A choice to be better.” A voice pierced the silence, and Rey stepped forward. She was the youngest among them, but her voice was clear and strong and her eyes shone with conviction.

Poe pressed a fist over his heart, grateful. There it was.

“A choice to be better,” he repeated.

Nova had finished up her soup that Elsie had gotten for her and was eyeing her datapad that Hux gave her a long while ago, reading a few passages on the Jedi when she felt something stirring within the Force. It sounded like a ringing, casually making her stand up on her legs and discard her datapad on the bed, peering around the room as if she could decipher the source of the disturbance. She listens in, tilting her head off to the side and focuses for a moment. 

Suddenly, and very violently, an excruciating pain was being pressed into the side of her skull like a nail being hammered in place. She scrunches up her face in anguish, wincing as her hands shoot up to her temples as if she could somehow get rid of the pain by doing the action. The white noise grew louder, stronger, being overbearing and she clenched her teeth tightly. 

Her head grew increasingly warm, a dark masking voice uttering to her which seemed to echo out within the room. _At last the work of generations is complete. **The great error is corrected. The day of victory is at hand. The day of revenge. The day of the Sith.**_ Then it’s gone. 

Kylo suddenly came barging into her room, seeing her hunched over and cradling her head into her hands on the floor. He was alert, his cape draping behind him as he strides directly to Nova and swaddled her into his arms, holding her tight. She rests her throbbing head onto his chest, trying to calm herself down and he settles his chin on the top of her crown. 

“I got you,” he mumbles, the exact same three words that she had spoken to him in the Supremacy’s turbolift. “You’re safe now.” 

Nova pants, trying to speak coherently. “Wh-What was that?” She exhales, listening to his heartbeat to try and blur the ache that was still coursing through her cerebrum. 

Kylo had an inkling, but he hoped that what he thought wasn’t true. So he told her a simple, “I’m not sure. I felt it, too.” It wasn’t an actual lie, because he really didn’t have a clue but he still had his suspicion.

“I’m starting to feel like a crazy person.” She whimpers in her delicate voice. 

“Hey,” his large hands find her cheeks, having her tilt her head up to meet his unwavering gaze.

His hazel eyes searched hers for a moment, that feeling of needing to throw up running through him powerfully. He still couldn’t place what it exactly was: perhaps it was care? Or protectiveness? Or maybe, just maybe bewitched. 

“There’s nothing crazy about you.” He tells her with such attentiveness and appreciation, making sure that she understood just how much he meant the words he spoke. “You’re completely sane. You’re kind and very brave. You know that right?” 

She nods sadly. “And you’re strong.” 

Kylo can’t help himself but double blink, his eyebrows furrowing at what she just told him. Not once has he heard those words being spoken to him and it made a warming sensation grow and bloom throughout his chest and into his lungs. It took his breath away. 

She sees his confusion so she repeats, “You’re one of the strongest people I know, Ben.” 

He pulled her closer into his body, sitting on the floor with her and pulled her into his lap carefully in case he was overstepping any kind of boundary but he wasn’t. She attached herself to him, molding into him and closed her eyes to try and rest her weary head. His fingers take through her long brown hair, twirling a few strains around on his gloved fingers. 

A few minutes of calming silence settles Nova into a light slumber and Kylo continues to hold her tight, his mind wandering about all he’s learned so far. 

Nova was the daughter of a man named Cassius Palpatine, the son of the late Emperor Sheev Palpatine that was killed by his own grandfather, Darth Vader. Cassius had met Nova’s mother and when she was only three years old, he fled off somewhere and her mother then met a junk trader named Erik who became her stepfather. Two years down the line, Rey was born and Nova became a big sister. Five years after that, after normalcy, Ochi of Bestoon went searching for Nova and there was only one place they could think of leaving her. On Jakku.

Out of all of it, what Kylo found most conflicting to understand was how did Cassius come to be when Darth Sidious was dead? It made no sense and he was desperately trying to search for any reasoning behind it. And soon enough, he just would. 


	22. Auction

When Poe found Finn sitting on his bunk in the Millennium Falcon deep in conversation with Rey, their heads centimeters from each other, knees touching side by side. Rey was speaking in a hurried whisper, shoulders tense, her whole demeanor focused. Poe was torn between not wanting to interrupt and being tempted to listen in. 

He cleared his throat loudly. “Sorry to interrupt.”

The two jumped apart. Rey’s ever-present staff had been resting against the bed, and her sudden movement sent it careening toward the metal floor. She reached for it before it could hit, reflexes lightning fast. Poe whistled low in appreciation. She flushed, embarrassed.

“I should go,” she said as she stood, staff in hand.

“Rey . . .” Finn started, but she was already pressing past Poe, who moved out of her way with a murmured apology. She was gone before Finn could finish his plea.

“Sorry,” Poe said. “I wouldn’t have interrupted if it wasn’t important.”

Finn leaned forward, resting his arms across his knees. He looked distracted, worried. Whatever they had been talking about, it had been serious.

“If you need to go find her, finish the conversation . . .”

“No.” Finn gave a little shake of his head, as if clearing it. “It’s fine. Rey will work it out on her own. She’s smart like that.”

“I have no doubts.” Poe then paused before he asked, “So the two of you . . .”

Finn couldn’t help but muse at his curiosity, smiling from ear to ear. “I love her, Poe. Very much. But I can tell that she’s not completely ready, and I’m okay with that. I’ll wait until she is.” 

“You’re a good man, Finn.” 

Finn flushed, rubbing self-consciously at his neck then noticed what the Resistance pilot was wearing: a black tuxedo cut to fit with a matching vest and pants and a white shirt made of the finest fabric, textured and solid under Poe’s fingers. The suit didn’t require a tie, but rather an ascot. Poe had arranged it around his neck, the silk soft against the roughness of his chin.

“What are you wearing?” 

“Black Squadron and I are heading into Coronet City,” he began to explain. “Suralinda gave us all disguises to wear.” 

“Don’t believe that’s a disguise there, Poe.” 

“Maybe not, but you can’t deny that I look good in it.” The older man shrugs. “And call me, Lorell Shda. A handsome bastard that’s about to rob a few Corellian thieves blind.” 

“Well, Lorell, I know there’s something that you’re trying to ask me.” 

Poe eyed him for a moment. “The Force?” 

“The Force.” Finn nods. 

He figured as much. He couldn’t be as sneaky as he was before. Leia, Rey, and Finn all had it, and from that, they could pick up on every little detail and thing. 

“I was going to ask if you and Rey wanted to join in getting that political prisoners list for Leia.” 

“Wait, wait, wait.” Finn held up a hand, eyes narrowed. “You want me to go with you to an occupied city and pretend to be some crime lord at an underworld auction so we can steal a list of the First Order’s top-secret most wanted? A list the First Order and a number of unsavory sketchy types would happily kill us for if they knew we had it?”

Poe hesitated. He had been sure that Finn would be up for it. “What? That doesn’t sound like fun to you?”

“Hell, yes, that sounds like fun. I’ll do it!” Finn said, clapping his hands together and laughing. “Anything to get me off this planet for a while. I mean, I am dedicated to the Resistance.” He pressed an open palm over his heart. “Dedicated! But I’m crawling out of my skin with counting supplies and tallying rations and fuel and . . .” He shuddered dramatically. “I thought sanitation work on Starkiller Base was dull. This making lists and counting stuff edges out mopping up after muddy combat units by a kilometer. Besides, I think Rey has been missing action for the past two days.” 

Oh yeah, Poe has to remind himself. It’s been two days since the Resistance allies showed up and there was that huge fight and Poe’s grand speech that he made. It’s been boring for those who have been on the world and keeping on the downlow such as Finn and Rey whereas Freya and Rose preferred the downtime. 

Poe grinned. “Glad to hear you’re in.” He offered his hand and Finn shook it with enthusiasm. “Get Rey and I’ll have Anya and Suralinda give you your disguises.” 

That had happened a little over an hour ago. 

Finn was currently standing in his silver suit, which ended up being a bit closer to white than it had looked in the plastic garment bag. It fit him well, smooth across his shoulders, and the pants tapering tight to the ankles. Rey was in a matching dress that complimented his attire, helping him with his tie. She looped the silver silk around Finn’s neck under the collar, letting the long tapering ends trail down either side of the line of cloth covered buttons. She crossed the thicker

side over the thinner one and brought it up and through at the collar. Rey then let the thick side fall forward then brought it around the other side, and back through at the collar. Once more over and through and then she tucked the end through the knot she had made at the base of Finn’s throat. Rey pulled the end tight and adjusted it until the two tails were almost even, leaving the thin side a bit shorter. She then fastened the fabric in place with a silver pin that had wings and a shining light on it. The Jedi Order symbol. 

Poe knew it wasn’t a wise choice but Finn didn’t care, it meant something to him. 

They left to meet with Anya and Suralinda who stood at the doors of the craft. 

“If you two are here,” Rey asked, “who’s flying our ship?” 

“We’re on a tractor beam now,” Anya explained. “We’re being brought into a secured location adjacent to the home of Hasadar Shu. I expect we’ll encounter First Order security forces of some kind.”

Suralinda leaned forward to meet Rey and Finn’s gaze. “No turning back now,” she said, eyes sparkling.

“Not a consideration,” Finn said for the both of them, his hand moving to the pin in his tie.

The ship rumbled under their feet as they made contact with the ground, forcing them to sway slightly. Anya braced a hand against Poe’s arm. He steadied her, and she gave him a small smile. 

“Careful out there, Black Leader,” she said. Her voice was sad, almost melancholy, and it was so out of character for her that it gave him pause. But before Poe had time to ask her what was wrong, the doors to the craft opened and they stepped out, walking down the ramp to catch their first glimpse of Coronet City.

They were high up, that much Poe could tell, likely on the rooftop of a skytower. Around them rose other skytowers—long fluted office buildings, glass-domed chapels, and antenna-topped landmarks. And beyond them, a vast ocean. The air was redolent with salt and the smell of seawater but around them was a verdant and precisely manicured park. Central areas of green grass, well-shaped trees, and tall buildings encircled them, stretching into the dark of the sky beyond. Pathways curled around pools of crystal-clear water lit from below in shades of blue. A moving bridge at least fifty meters wide stretched skyward to end in an arched doorway. People streamed up the walkway to the doors, laughing and talking, the flow of the wealthy and fashionable glittering like jewel-toned confetti strewn around glass. 

Movement behind him and Poe turned in time to see their ship moving away on a conveyor belt, making room for the next partygoers to land. He frowned. That was going to be a problem. How were they going to get back to their ship in a hurry? 

Someone, Finn, cleared his throat loudly, and Poe hurried down the ramp to join his companions.

“Invitations, please.” 

A row of Stormtroopers, six on each side, lined the white stone pathway where the landing area met the gardens. The voice had come from one of the Stormtroopers, who now held out an expectant hand. Suralinda was nearest, and she stepped forward with Anya, offering the stormtrooper a chip card. 

He watched the Stormtrooper slide the card into a datapad. Poe held his breath. The datapad took a moment, but then it emitted a chime, and the Stormtrooper waved Suralinda and Anya through to the next Trooper, who patted them down for weapons. 

Poe stepped up next, handing his card over. The Stormtrooper inserted it, and Poe watched Lorell Shda’s information scroll across the display. The Stormtrooper studied it and cocked his head.

Poe tensed. “Something wrong?”

“Lorell Shda.”

“That is my name.”

“And you’re from Coruscant.”

“Canto Bight more recently, but yes, I was born on Coruscant. A lot of people are from Coruscant,” he said lightly.

“Of course, it’s just . . .”

Poe looked pointedly at the chrono on his wrist. “We’re holding up the line,” he said. “If there’s not a problem . . . ?”

The second Stormtrooper came over. “Does the invitation check out?”

“Yes, sir. But this man looked familiar. I swear he looks familiar.”

“Perhaps you’ve seen me on the newsfeeds,” Poe said smoothly.

“There was that one deal,” Finn said, snapping his fingers. “That race you won.” He spread his arms. “Huge money. So much money.” He grinned and leaned in conspiratorially to the Stormtroopers. “We couldn’t get away from the reporters. Constant coverage. I swear he had a fan club for months.”

Poe smiled big, showing pearly white teeth and willing Finn not to lay it on too thick.

The second Stormtrooper sounded bored when he said, “See? He’s famous.” He gestured toward Poe as he spoke. “There’re a lot of celebrities here. That’s why you recognize him.”

“I don’t think that’s it,” the first Stormtrooper said.

“You’re overthinking it,” he said, shaking his head. “This is supposed to be a cushy babysitting detail. As long as he’s got an invitation and he’s not armed . . .” He shrugged.

The first Stormtrooper hesitated.

“What’s the holdup?” Rey asks from behind them in line, standing next to Jess. She hoped it’d course the Stormtroopers into moving the line along and sure enough, it worked. 

They were checked for weapons and pressed through the line. Once free of the security checkpoint, they caught up with Anya and Suralinda. 

“What was the holdup?” Anya asked quietly.

“Nothing,” Poe said. “I looked familiar.”

Suralinda tapped her fingers against her chin, thoughtful. “You are known to the First Order. We probably should have gotten you a prosthetic of some kind. A fake nose or something.”

“A wig?” Finn suggested.

Poe held a hand to his hair. “You wouldn’t dare.”

As Rey and Jess joined, they moved up the crystal stairs toward the doors in the sky. Just

another group of partygoers at a lavish gathering. Suralinda drew them to a stop at the entrance to the Shu mansion.

“Here’s where we part ways,” Suralinda said. “Anya and I will make our thanks to our hosts first, so hold back a bit until you see we’re gone. We don’t want them to think we are more than simple acquaintances sharing a shuttle down to the planet’s surface. Lorell Shda is a friend of the Rylothian government, so it is not so remarkable for him to accompany the ambassador’s son. But the eyes that watch us need not know more than that.” 

“Okay, and after that?”

“It is my understanding that invited guests must present a gift to Nifera Shu. If she approves of your gift, she will present you with a gift in return. This gift is the next step in reaching the auction.”

“Do you know what she’s supposed to give us?”

“I assume a map of some kind, but I’m not sure.”

“Poe, your gift.” Anya reached into a dress pocket, pulled out a small square box, and presented it to him with a flourish. “Careful. It’s fragile, so don’t shake it.” She giggled. “And don’t open it until you’re in front of Hasadar and Nifera.” She grinned, wistful. “I wish I could be there to see it.”

“I don’t like the sound of this,” Poe said. “At all.”

“The rumor is that Nifera does like the unusual, and you need to make an impression. We couldn’t risk you not getting into the auction, so I made sure you would make an impression.”

“You got her a necklace!” Rey smiled, seeing the box. 

Suralinda sniffed. “We’re dignitaries. A rogue of sorts. I picked gifts that fit.” She took Anya’s outstretched arm in her own. “Good luck!”

Anya nodded her farewell. And then they were melting into the crowd.

Poe held up the box, listening. He heard scratching and wrenched his head away. Was there something alive in there?

“Don’t shake it,” Finn reminded him.

“I’m not.”

“What do you think it is,” Rey furrowed her brow. “If it’s not a necklace?”

“No idea, but knowing Suralinda, it will be interesting. Now let’s go find the Shus and get this over with so we can get that list.”

The box jerked in his hand, and he held it a little tighter, wondering what the hell Anya had given him and better yet, why Suralinda thought it was a good gift. 

Hasadar and Nifera Shu’s home had been transformed into an underwater kingdom for the occasion of Nifera’s fiftieth birthday. Blue sea shimmered around them in eerily realistic holoprojections, and strange fish in brilliant colors swam through the crowd of guests who

exclaimed in appreciation at the subterranean display. The food was ocean-themed, and Poe and Finn found tables heaped with all manner of edible sea creatures, including twenchok battered and fried in perfect tubular bits, colo clawfish coated in pink salt, huge prawns with eyes and antennae intact piled on mountains of smoking ice, and half a dozen species of fish displayed on beds of multicolored seaweed that Poe had no name for. Even the drinks that the waitstaff passed around referenced the oceans on Corellia in shades of green, blue, and storm gray. They bubbled merrily in long fluted glasses, and Poe was sure he heard the distant sound of waves crashing on the shore when he held one to his mouth to take a sip.

“This place is wild!” Finn exclaimed, already in possession of a plate heaped with the saltwater delicacies. “Have you ever seen food like this?”

“Once,” Poe said. He shuddered involuntarily. “Not a great memory.”

“Right.” Finn stuffed an entire yobcrab leg in his mouth, bit down, and winced in pain.

“You have to take the shell off first,” Poe said, amused.

Finn looked indignant. “Well, why didn’t they say so?”

Poe clapped a hand against the younger man’s arm. “Did I ever tell you how much I appreciate you?”

Finn grinned. “Not as much as you should.”

Poe drained the glass he had been holding in his free hand. The drink, a bright-green libation, had tasted like sunlight streaming through kelp forests, or at least what Poe thought that might taste like.

“You ready to go present our gift to the Shus?”

“Let me just . . .” Finn stuffed a piece of dark fleshy fish in his mouth. He rolled his eyes in pleasure. Dusted his hands off. “Okay, now I’m ready.”

They wound their way through the crowd of humans, Twi’leks, Sullustans, Barbadelans, and a dozen other denizens of the galaxy. It was a diverse crowd, multicultural, multilingual, but all having one thing in common. They looked very, very rich.

“Hey, Lorell,” Finn said, mouth close to Poe’s ear. “Did you notice something alarming about this crowd?”

Poe looked a little closer, past the glittering wealth and seascape, and immediately understood what Finn was getting at.

“Did you know half the attendees at the shindig would be First Order?” Finn asked.

“It’s more like a quarter,” Poe said without turning, “but no. I think we underestimated the First Order presence in Coronet City, and that they’d all be here tonight.”

It was strange to see so many First Order officers here, but perhaps that was the nature of the occupation. The local merchants and politicians courted the favor of the First Order elite, and high command mostly left them to their business—as long as their business was supplying the First Order with ships and cheap labor and anything else they needed. It was ugly, but it wasn’t the first time Poe had seen it happen to a planet. And it never lasted. Sooner or later, the First Order would want more than Corellia could give, and the fist would tighten. And squeeze. And Corellia would either fight back or be left a used-up husk.

They’d reached the receiving line and joined the guests waiting for a moment of the Shus’ attention. 

They didn’t have to wait long before they were face-to-face with Hasadar and Nifera. Hasadar was a handsome man. He wore a seagreen robe, tied at the waist with a belt of shark teeth. He smiled broadly in greeting. His wife was a head taller than him with ebony skin that glowed in the strange translucence of the artificial underwater world. Her hair coiled regally atop her head, and she wore long earrings that curved around her lobes and draped across her broad shoulders. Her dress was fashioned from hundreds of tiny white shells and flared out at her hips only to pinch in at her knees and finally scrape the floor like a tail. She wore a living albino eel around her neck as if it were a necklace. Poe shook his head, amused. Suralinda and Anya’s gift was impressive, but it was no eel.

“Lorell Shda,” Nifera Shu greeted him. “A pleasure to finally meet you. Our mutual acquaintances speak quite highly of you.”

Poe took Nifera’s outstretched hand and brushed a kiss across her knuckles. Her dark eyes glittered in delight. “The pleasure is mine.”

“This is my husband,” she said with a gesture toward Hasadar. “He is not familiar with your previous work but is surely a supporter.”

Poe nodded to the man, who nodded back in acknowledgment. Nifera hadn’t come out and said she knew that he was part of the Resistance, but her words were opaque enough to suggest it.

“My associate, Kade Genti,” he said, moving aside to allow Finn to present himself.

“A queen of the sea,” Finn said, kissing Nifera’s hand, “on her second twenty-fifth birthday.”

The Corellian woman laughed loudly. “Oh, you are charming. And what a name.” She arched an eyebrow at Finn. “An admirer of the Jedi, I see.”

Finn touched his pin briefly. “And yourself?” he asked, recklessly.

Her eyes met his, bright with mischief. But wary, too. “Brave,” she murmured. “Or very impetuous.”

“I like to think I’m a bit of both,” Finn countered. 

She turned back to Poe. “Do you have a gift for me, gentlemen? Besides your charm and flattery?” 

Poe presented her with the gift. It fit neatly in Nifera’s palm, the gold-flocked wrapping flimsi catching the light. 

Her face brightened as she unwrapped the box with eager fingers. Now it hissed and chittered in her hands. Her eyes widened as the flimsi tore away to reveal a tiny metal cage and inside that cage, a tiny living insect. 

“Oh!” she cried. 

“Oh!” Finn shouted, surprised.

“Oh,” Poe moaned quietly. 

There was a scroll attached to the top of the cage and Nifera peeled it free, handing the cage back to Poe. He took it, peering in at the creature. It had six legs, ridged in a hard shell of armor, not unlike the yobcrab leg Finn had tried to eat earlier. Spiked mandibles snapped at him, and tentacles waved through the bars of its cage, as if to reach out and grab him. 

“It’s a miniature lylek!” Nifera exclaimed, sounding delighted as she read from the scroll. “A native of the Ryloth equatorial rain forests, they usually grow to immense size, big enough to eat a full-grown man. But this one has been specially bred to stay small, as long as you don’t feed it flesh.” She widened her eyes in mock horror at Poe, but he could tell she was not afraid in the least. If anything, she was fascinated. “And,” she continued, “this one is a queen.” 

She rolled the scroll back up and handed it to her horrified husband. Poe held the cage out, the strange beast still chittering and waving its tentacles menacingly. 

“I love it!” Nifera Shu said, clearly pleased. “I do believe this is the best gift I have received, Lorell Shda.” She leaned in conspiratorially. “I don’t know how you knew that I trained to be an entomologist as a young woman, but I am impressed.” 

Poe blinked. Had Suralinda known? Surely not. “I am glad you appreciate this small token of my appreciation of your . . . birth.”

“I do, indeed. And now I have a gift for you.” She handed the lylek to her husband, who immediately handed it off to a servant waiting nearby. 

Nifera dipped her hand into a pocket and drew forth a tiny black clam-shaped packet. She took Poe’s hand and pressed the packet into his palm, temporarily holding his hand in both of hers. Her skin was warm to the touch. 

“May the Force guide you in your endeavors. The games will begin five minutes past the hour.”

And then he and Finn were being moved down the receiving line and the next guests were presenting their gifts to the couple.

Nova was standing out by the viewport, seeing the planet of Ryloth; a place that she knew all too well. It had been one of her homes at a time, taken in by a Hutt and was used to babysit his Huttlets. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world but whenever a Huttlet got hurt on her watch, Nova paid a heavy price by being secluded and not eating for a full day which was an ordinary punishment that she got used to with previous owners. 

She was back into her normal clothes—gauze, tunic, sashes and all—wearing her familiar black leather cuff that gave her comfort and fumbled with it casually. She had a heavy feeling deep within her chest and it wasn’t going away anytime soon. She wondered what it could be; it was unlike anything else before. Very potent, almost irresistible. Infectious and welcoming. She had felt it only once in her short young adult life and it was when she spotted the purple robed figures in Snoke’s throne room.

An electrical surge travels up her body when Kylo steps next to her, staring out at the Outer Rim world. He didn’t have to say anything for her to know that he was trying to make her feel better just by being with her. It did calm her nerves for a short moment, but there was still that inkling stirring an icy start in her bones. 

“I have that feeling again . . .” She drifted off, looking lost.

“Nova,” Kylo said gently, a notion of understanding leading his words. “You and I, we have something special. Something that means feelings aren’t just feelings.”

Nova nodded. “The Force,” she said, voice barely a whisper.

He takes a moment to gather himself and not to speak of such daring things even though he wanted to be openly honest to her as much as possible. He reminds himself that it wasn’t the right time, that he didn’t have all the facts and the evidence to prove his claim. For now, Kylo would just have to let it slide and to continue on with the conversation as if there was nothing to hide. 

“You can tell me what it is.”

“That’s just it,” she said, frustration bubbling over. “I can’t. Because I’m not sure what it means. It’s just . . . a feeling.”

Kylo turns his head slightly to study her face. The girl was close, so close to something big. Bigger than Luke, maybe even himself, if that was possible. But Kylo knew that he wasn’t the one to ultimately get her there; that would be someone else. Nevertheless, he would do what he could for Nova. 

Suddenly, she crinkles her eyebrows, raising her head higher and focusing on the nearby monitors that displayed images of other planets. Kylo watches intently, he wasn’t picking up on what she was and it bothered him. Yet, he patiently waited. 

A picture of Corellia shows and she hurries over, studying it. Nova was searching, feeling with the Force and Kylo stepped closer towards her magnetic display of her abilities. 

Softly, and with trepidation, she whispers, “. . . Machiavelli?” 

The bidding came fast and furious. Poe had a hard time keeping up, especially with Finn asking him how it was going every few seconds. Back and forth, back and forth, and Poe tried to determine just how many parties were bidding, but everything was happening too quickly to keep track. If the bidding kept going at this rate, they simply couldn’t keep up. He covered the device in his ear for a moment, sheltering the mic and causing the holo to flicker off. 

“Fi—I mean, Kade,” he whispered harshly. “Go look around for other bidders. See if you can identify anyone that looks like they’re spending a lot of credits.” 

Finn looked at him quizzically. 

“Just try,” he said, motioning Finn forward with his hands. “Go. Tell me what you see.” 

Finn shook his head doubtfully but stepped back into the main area of the room, leaving Poe alone. Poe lifted his hand and fell back into the thick of the auction. In the few seconds he was away, the price had shot up another hundred thousand credits. He slumped. The exponential jumps were almost too big for him to comprehend. Another few minutes at this rate, and he would have blown through the Resistance’s credits. It didn’t help that they already took away a huge amount for a donation to the Collective. 

Finn came back.

“Anything?”

He shrugged. “They all look rich to me.”

“Anyone with an earpiece?” he asked, exasperated.

“Not that I can tell, Poe. But I saw Jess and Rey. They’ll keep an eye out, too.”

Poe nodded. It was the best they could do. Because he was certain now that he was not going to win this auction. Sure enough, the bidding climbed by exponents again, blowing past the Resistance’s funds. His avatar went dim and the droid said. “You have exceeded your reserve. Please add more funds at this time. If you fail to add more funds, this device will self-destruct in sixty seconds. One, two . . .”

Poe ripped the device out of his ear with a muttered, “Dammit!”

“What is it?” Finn asked over his shoulder. 

“We’re out.”

“What?”

“Too rich for us.”

“What do you mean? Already?” 

Poe nodded grimly.

“So this whole mission is a bust?” Finn asked, outraged. “A waste of time?”

“No.” Poe scanned the room. He knew the list had to be here. Suralinda had said that the winners had to be physically present to claim it, as it could only be transferred to a personal device and would not be open to the larger network or be broadcast or transmitted anywhere. So maybe entering this auction at all was going about it the wrong way. 

Finn faced the grand entrance, a sensation wafting over him and making his fingers tingle with anticipation. “They’re here.” 

Before Poe could ask what he was implying, an alarm drew his attention over to where the younger man was looking. Stormtroopers were pouring in across the bridge and through the front doors. The room that had been crawling with First Order officers earlier now seemed to have a distinct lack of them, as if they had been forewarned to clear out and within minutes had simply disappeared.

Bright party conversation faded to the silence of shock. The only sound in the room was the strange underwater music that continued to play from hidden speakers and the continued pounding of Stormtrooper boots on the floor as they spread through the party, eerie white figures moving through the artificial deep. 

Behind them came a First Order officer, cold and spectral, stretched skeletal thin in his black uniform.

“This is an illegal gathering,” he declared loudly. “Under the joint authority of CorSec and the First Order, all guests will be detained and questioned. If you are innocent you have nothing to fear. However, if you resist, you will be shot.”

Hasadar Shu stepped forward in his regal robe and belt of shark teeth, putting himself between the soldiers and the party guests. He held out a hand.

“Stop!” His voice carried over the party. “This is a private residence! What is the meaning of this?” 

The Stormtrooper in the lead lifted his rifle and pointed it at the man. He didn’t hesitate. He simply pulled the trigger.

Hasadar Shu pitched back, neck snapping violently. He went down, a blaster hole in his forehead.

A loud crash as someone or something outside of Poe’s direct vision knocked one of the towering banquet tables over. He caught the edge of a massive silver tower, full of ice and seafood, thundering as it hit the floor. The deafening boom reverberated through the room, loud and unexpected as a bomb. One of the Stormtroopers, no doubt rattled by the noise, fired wildly into the crowd. 

And that’s when the screaming started.

Chaos swirled around Finn, a surreal overload of the senses as party guests panicked and ran for their lives. The crash of crystal cups and the shatter of fine furniture filled the air. Despite the edict against weapons, someone—several someones by the sound of it—must have sneaked a blaster in because soon the air was filled with laserfire, overturned tables, and chairs turned into makeshift shelters, as the people fought back. 

The invading First Order had left open the grand doors and a wind straight off the sea swept through the building, slicking the white stone floors and leaving the salt and sea so thick in the air Finn could almost taste it under the acrid burn of smoke. All of it accompanied by the continuous sound of blasterfire and the strange illusions of swimming fish and sea creatures. The scene was a nightmare mix of the surreal and the all-too-real, as people died on both sides

Over it all, the skeletal First Order officer yelled for calm, but the damage had been done. No one was listening. 

Finn took the opportunity to move through the room, keeping low, Poe at his side.

“We need to find Rey and Jess.” He remarks over his shoulder. 

“Anya and Suralinda, too.” Poe agrees. “And blasters.” 

“Both would be good.” 

Behind the artificial rocks of a waterfall, was Suralinda and Anya, returning fire with fallen Stormtrooper rifles. They wound their way over to the girls, ducking behind columns and avoiding the frightened crowd. 

“Where’s Rey?” Finn asked as he reached Anya’s side, breathing hard.

Anya glanced his way, and ducked as another blaster shot shattered the rocks just above her head.

“She went for the ship with Jess. What happened?”

“They must have found out about the auction.” He gestured toward her blaster with his chin. “Don’t suppose you have another one of those?”

“Thought you could use the Force, Jedi.” 

Finn eyes his outfit for a moment. “Undercover, remember.” 

Anya playfully rolled her eyes and leaned out, taking her time to aim despite incoming fire, and

took down the Stormtrooper closest to her. Finn darted forward to retrieve his weapon, Anya giving cover fire. He grabbed the blaster and ran to a large column a dozen meters away.

“Good?”

“We can’t leave yet,” Poe said, eyeing the young woman. “We’ve got to get that list.” 

Suralinda frowned. “The list is lost,” she said. “We’ve got to get out of here alive.” 

Suddenly the lights went out, plunging the room into darkness. 

“What now?” Poe muttered. Small floor illuminators blinked on around the room, offering just enough light to avoid tripping over his own feet, but not enough to see who was coming for them. 

“At least that damn ocean holo is off,” Suralinda said. 

She was right. For the first time since they’d arrived, the oversized room was devoid of its strange artificial underwater escape. 

Something caught his eye, a glimpse of glowing white hurrying up a flight of stairs behind Finn. It was Nifera Shu, still alive and likely running for her life. Her white shell dress glowed even in the darkness. And something else glowed, too. The serpent around her neck.

“You, Anya, and Finn get to the ship,” Poe said, an idea forming in his mind. 

“What? Where will you be?” Anya paused, staring at him.

“I’m going to get that list.”

At the communications console where Rose and Freya sat, each having their headphones draped around their respective necks and eyes busily studying the boards in front of them, R2- D2 he beeped a greeting as Leia arrived. She returned with a nod, leaning in over Rose’s shoulder. 

“Any news?”

Rose startled. “General Organa!” She said in a rush, sitting up straighter, pulling the headphones away and setting them on the console. “I didn’t see you,” she confessed.

“Any word from Bracca or Corellia?” Leia asked.

“Zay checked in at oh nine hundred hours. She said they had made planetfall and Dross Squadron was headed to their rendezvous point with their contact from the guild.”

“Dross Squadron?” Leia asked, amused. “One guess who came up with that name. Did she report any problems?”

“No. I mean, negative. All seemed to be going smoothly. But she said their away team would be out of comlink contact for a while. Something about interference on the planet’s surface.”

“Good.” She turned to Freya. “What about the Corellian teams?”

“Team One has landed and is at the auction,” she said. “They’re out of comlink contact, as well, but for safety reasons. Seems there’s a substantial First Order presence where they are. But I’m monitoring that here.” She pointed to four small blinking red lights on the screen.

“So do we know if the auction’s started?”

“We do,” Rose said. “We had a communication from Maz Kanata.”

“Did she report any problems?”

“None so far.”

“And the other Corellian team?”

“No word from Corellian Team Two, either,” Freya said. “But the minute I hear something, I’ll let you know.”

A proximity alarm blared through the room. Massive metal doors thundered down over the glass windows, quickly obscuring the desert view. 

“All hands!” Yendor shouted from across the room. “Sound the alarm. The First Order is here. We’re under attack!”

Poe caught up to Nifera Shu on the edge of a second-story balcony, frantically trying to reach someone with the comlink in her hand.

“Nifera!” He shouted. 

She spun to face him, panic widening her eyes. The albino eel slithered around her neck, looking as distressed as its mistress. Poe eyed it warily. 

“They killed my husband,” she whispered breathlessly. “They murdered Hasadar in front of me. In front of everyone.”

“I know,” Poe said. He’d spread his arms wide to show he wasn’t armed, that he meant her no harm. “Because of the list.” He glanced at the eel. He could see now that the creature had the stubs of tiny antler-like horns protruding from its head. It was so similar to the creature that he had seen open the auction holo that it couldn’t be a coincidence. “Because of the Collective.”

Something in her face crumbled. “Because of me,” she said, her voice a low wail. 

“And they’re coming for you,” he said. As if to reinforce his words, something below them in the main room collapsed, powerful enough to shake the balcony they stood on. Poe crashed shoulder-first into the wall. Nifera gripped the railing to keep herself from falling. 

“I’ve got to get out of here,” she said. She lifted her comlink again, pressing the buttons. Nothing happened. 

“They’ve blocked your signal,” Poe said, taking an educated guess.

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “I dropped it when they shot . . .” Her whole body heaved. “I-I think it’s broken.”

“And the list?” he asked, heart pounding.

She touched her hand to the head of the horned serpent. “Here.” She lifted the creature’s head and pressed gently on either side of its jaws. It obediently opened its mouth. Poe could see a tiny datachip resting on its tongue.

“I can get you out of here,” he said. “We’ve got a ship.”

“The Resistance?” she asked knowingly. “That is who you’re with, Lorell?” 

He nodded. No reason to hide it now.

“And what will it cost me?”

He thrust his chin in the direction of the serpent. She seemed to hesitate. Footsteps sounded on the steps behind them, and Nifera’s face paled at whatever she saw behind his shoulder. 

“Now or never,” Poe said urgently, eyes focused on Nifera, back itching from not looking behind him. “Give that list to the Resistance or take your chances with the First Order. Do we have a deal?”

She nodded sharply. “Deal.”

Poe reached out and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the edge of the balcony. Twenty meters below them was a dark pool of water, one of those that graced the ornamental gardens they had passed through on their way to the party. “How deep is that water?”

“I-I have no idea.”

He climbed over the railing, and helped her follow, awkward in her shell dress. “Let’s find out,” he said. And they jumped. 

Leia saw Hanhee fall. 

When the attack had started, Yendor’s daughter had been the first through the library door, yelling a warning about betrayal in the capital city. Now she was the first to fall, a blaster shot to her chest. 

Yendor was holding the south end of the hangar so he didn’t know when it happened. He and a handful of RDA fighters were keeping the First Order forces at bay so that Leia, Orrimaarko, Rieekan, the droids, and the rest of the command base could make their escape. But when Hahnee went down, a piece of Leia’s heart went with the Twi’lek warrior. Then the general did the thing that came most naturally to her: she picked up Hahnee’s rifle and took her position.

She pressed the trigger on the big gun and it bucked, sending fire into the enemy’s advance. They cowered back, taking shelter. But the rifle was hot in her hands, already running close to empty, and Leia knew the folly of her position immediately. There was no way one person with limited firepower could hold for long. Still, she only had to hold long enough for everyone to make it to their respective ships. 

“Freya!” Leia shouted over her shoulder, hoping the girl could hear her over the din of the firefight. And then Freya was there with a blaster in hand, no questions asked. They fought side by side as they had done it a hundred times before. Gradually the assault on their position faded. “They’re retreating!” Freya shouted. 

Leia nodded grimly. For now, at least. Or more likely, finding an easier advance. Or just doing the smart thing and waiting to pick them off as they exited the cave. That’s what she would have done. 

Chewbacca was roaring an all-clear, which also meant “Get your ass on the Millennium Falcon right now,” and with Freya covering her back, Leia hustled across the bay and up the ramp. 

Rose was there to greet her, eyes wide with worry.

“Status,” Leia said, voice clipped with exhaustion.

“All personnel accounted for and on board their respective vessels. We’re ready to get the heck out of here, as soon as we get word that it’s clear out there.”

“Clear out there,” Leia echoed. “What does that mean?”

“That they’re not waiting to pick us off as soon as we leave the cave, ma’am.”

Leia laughed, and it was a bitter sound. “Yes, I know. And I think that’s not going to happen. We’ll have to take our chances. It’s either that or stay here and let them regroup so they come at us again.”

The rage she had been holding back surfaced momentarily. She could believe that someone in Lessu had betrayed the Resistance. After all, there was no love for them here on Ryloth, and Yendor’s contacts had made it clear that the clock was ticking on their tolerance of the Resistance’s presence. They had overstayed their welcome and were now suffering the price. But to betray Yendor? After his years of service, his pride in his people? That made Leia see red.

And now Hahnee. Leia would have to be the one to tell him. It was her fault, after all. 

As if on cue, Leia’s comm beeped furiously. 

“Leia!” Yendor’s voice was a hoarse shout, and she could hear the ongoing firefight in the background. “What’s your position?” 

“We’re all in place and accounted for,” she told him. “Except . . .” She paused, trying to find the right words to tell her friend that his daughter was dead. There was no easy way to say what had to be said. She had hoped there was, but she knew from experience that there wasn’t. “Hahnee . . . She didn’t make it. She’s dead, Yendor.” 

Silence on the other end, and Leia thought perhaps he hadn’t heard her. But she could still hear the sound of blasters through the comlink, so she tried again. 

“Yendor? Did you hear me?”

“Copy, General,” he said, and his voice was steady. But underneath, Leia could tell that the man was not. 

“I’m sorry. She died defending us. It was a good death.”

Another beat of silence before he said, “There are no good deaths, my old friend. Only death.” And with that she didn’t argue. 

“Excuse me, General Organa.” It was C-3PO.

“What is it?” She asked, distracted.

“Chewbacca asked me to tell you that they are short an X-wing pilot. It seems that one of the Phantom Squadron pilots did not survive the initial First Order attack.”

Leia grimaced. They could ill afford to lose a pilot, or a ship. She considered telling the droid to handle it on his own, but then a thought came to mind. 

“Yendor,” she said. “How do you feel about flying again?”

“What?”

“We’ve lost a pilot but his ship is prepped and waiting. If you can get there, we could use you.”

Silence, and for a moment, Leia thought he would say no. That he would give in to his grief. But then: “I’m on my way.”

“Thank you,” she said, relief rushing over her. 

“No, Leia. Thank you.”

The communication ended and Leia turned to Rose. 

“Tell Connix and Aftab to get to the turrets. We’re going to need the firepower. And I want to be in communication with Rieekan and Orrimaarko’s ship at all times. Can you handle that?”

“On it,” she said.

Leia dismissed her with a nod and made her way to the cockpit. She strapped into her old chair as Freya and the Wookiee engaged the thrusters. The Falcon slowly rose. 

“We make a run for it, like Yendor said,” Freya explained over her shoulder. “The X-wings will lead, and the others will follow.” 

Follow us where? Leia thought. Back into running, searching for a home, losing friends and family? But all she said was “Okay.”

Freya noticed the small word and the tone that it was spoken in. “We have to fight,” she said simply as she faced Leia. “I know it’s hard, but what’s the alternative? Let the First Order win? They wouldn’t spare our friends and family. At least we fight for what we love this way. As long as we fight,” Freya continued, “there’s hope.”

Hope. A small word, but so precious. So difficult to maintain and easy to lose. But Leia wouldn’t let herself lose it. She could do that much. For Han and Luke, for Hahnee and the Phantom Squadron pilot whose name she didn’t know. For the living, too. All of them. For Freya and Rose and Poe and Finn and Rey and for the future of the Resistance that she hadn’t even met yet.

“There’s always hope,” Leia agreed. “Drops of water, right?”

Freya’s nod was solemn. “Which we will build to an ocean.”

And then they were airborne, shields engaged and dodging cannon fire. Leaving Ryloth behind.

Rey sat in the ship, hiding and was on the lookout for her friends as Jess was rummaging around for her blaster. Their window of escape was closing, she could feel it, but they couldn’t leave without Finn, or Poe, or the rest of them. 

A small group of people in First Order uniforms were running their way, blasters clearly visible in their hands. Rey peers at them, counting five silhouettes and Jess asks what they should do.

Rey peered closely, feeling herself being drawn to a certain figure in particular. The obscure body then resolved, allowing her to see him dressed in white. Finn. She then sees another in white, four in what looked like black, or colors close enough to be black in the dark of the night. But three wore dresses and one wore a robe. And one was a Twi’lek. 

Finn was using his sense of the Force, directing the group and pointed towards the ship and Rey lit up happily to see him alright. She called for Jess to open the door and left the cockpit, to meet up with the group. 

“You get the list?” Jess asked Poe worriedly. 

Poe motioned to a woman who had been hanging back, as if taking in the scene. She wore a dress of white shells that hung heavy and waterlogged on her frame and a serpent of some kind curled close around her throat. “This is Nifera Shu. She has the list. We get her off the planet, she gives us the list.” 

She nodded an acknowledgment. 

Rey headed straight for Finn, hugging him tightly and asking if he was okay. He responded and relayed the same question to which earned him a gentle kiss on the cheek, and a “I am now”. 

Once everything was settled and in order, Poe led the shuttle out of the Corellian atmosphere, with Anya flying rear guard. He grinned as he banked and broke into space but it soon was taken off his face when Anya answered her comlink to an urgent message. 

“There’s a problem. We got a call from the Falcon.”

Poe tensed. In the heat of their escape from Corellia, he had not forgotten that there was trouble on Ryloth, but there was little he could do to help, so he’d pushed it to the back of his mind. Now his worry came barreling back, and he asked, fear in his voice, “Everything all right?”

“Looks like the First Order found them.” 

His stomach dropped.

“Leia’s alright,” Anya added quickly. “Everyone on the Falcon made it. But we lost some, including Charth’s sister and at least one of the Phantom Squadron.” 

He swallowed down some of the initial panic he’d felt. Leia was okay. But at least two lives lost, and one of them Charth’s sister. 

“We can’t go back to Ryloth, Poe,” Anya said. “Where do we jump?”

“Pick a spot,” he said. “As long as it’s far from here and we know the First Order won’t be there.”

“They could be anywhere,” she said. “How will we know?”

They wouldn’t. They were on the run again, just like that. Nowhere safe. Nowhere they couldn’t be found. Except . . . 

“Nifera.”

She strolled up, entering the cockpit. “Lorell. Poe Dameron.” He could almost hear her smile. 

“We need somewhere safe to set down for a while. Not long. Just a meeting point to regroup, disseminate the list. A day at most.”

Silence at the back of his head, and then, “And you think I can help you?”

“I think the Collective can help us.”

“And why would they do that?” 

Poe turns in his seat. “Because we just helped their benefactor escape certain death.”

A soft laugh escaped her lips. “Very well, Poe Dameron. I’ll help you. After you make a generous donation to our cause.”

“Yeah, about that, didn’t you already take half our credits?”

“And now I aim to take the other half.”

His eyes then drift to Anya, Suralinda, Jess, Rey, then to Finn, and back to Nifera. If he agreed, he was close to bankrupting the Resistance. But if he didn’t, they wouldn’t have a chance to spend those credits because they might all be dead.

“Take the money, lady,” he said, jaw tight.

She gave him coordinates and Anya was sure to transmit them to the Resistance fleet. Poe faced forwards once again, punching in their new destination, and waited until the shuttle, and then the blockade runner, blurred out, jumping to hyperspace.

Nova stood in between Kylo and Armitage, waiting in the hangar of a newer command shuttle that reminded her of the Supremacy. This one was dubbed the Steadfast and it was a Resurgent class Star Destroyer, with it she was given an even bigger quarters that acted like a house. Two floors, furnished for spacious living and even Elsie was given a nice room with glass containers of real, green plants from her homeworld of Bogano. 

She fumbled with her cuff as she stared out at the approaching ship that came towards them, Armitage had informed her and Kylo that Lessu’s First Order sympathizer was meeting up with them and that he was a very good friend of the late Supreme Leader Snoke. Nova felt uneasy, mostly haunted by mental images of Snoke’s mangled face and she pondered if the man looked exactly like him. Or, at least, some variation of scarred tissue that has been healed incorrectly and caved in. She shivers at the thought. 

Vicrul stands directly behind her, wielding his scythe and the other Knights follow after, fanning out from him: Ap’Lek and Ushar at his sides, with Cardo and Trudgen next to them, and Kuruk in the rear, observing from afar, as the pilot always done. The Knights of Ren were called in at Kylo’s order, calling for them to protect Nova at all and any costs. It wasn’t because she couldn’t defend herself but because recently, things just proved that certain people and things couldn’t be trusted. And meeting this old friend of Snoke’s that Hux happily accepted on board was no exception. 

A robbed silhouette enters the hangar, approaching the three and Kylo holds his head high, being fierce while Nova just eyed him with curiosity and General Armitage Hux grins. He takes long strides, his posture straight and tall, giving off the appearance of being of importance and Kylo had to stop himself from scoffing. 

“Welcome, sir.” Hux nods to him. “Glad to have you joining the First Order to get rid of the Rebel scum from under our boots.” 

“The pleasure is all mine,” his voice is husked yet smooth, and his words were spoken so eloquently that any worry or thought that Nova could conjure up in her head melted away. 

His hands raise, her being able to see human flesh as he peels back his hood and reveals his face. Dark brown hair that was short, blue eyes that held a sense of kindness and mystery, his eyebrows were light and speckled, appearing as if he had none. His jawline was square and his nose was sloped, rounded at the bottom which gave him a tender expression. 

“You must be Ms. Nova Hux,” he smiles, offering out his hand to the younger girl and she takes it. “I’ve heard so much about you from Snoke himself.”

The Force became heavy and Kylo felt as if he was being choked to death. His eyes bore into the older man of thirteen years, having to tilt his head a bit due to their two inch height difference. 

“My name is Avellian.”


	23. Rule of Two

Poe pushed his way through the crowd, head down and hood drawn close to hide his face. He found the door, the lintel marked with the now familiar winding horned white serpent.

He glanced over his shoulder to see if anyone was watching him, but if they were, he couldn’t spot them. He’d made this trip three times before, each time bringing in prisoners in small groups so they wouldn’t attract as much attention.

He nodded to Freya, who stood watch in a slice of alleyway across the crowded road. Freya returned the nod. All clear.

Poe opened the door marked with the sign of the Collective and ushered in his last group of prisoners. He’d brought the weakest first, those most in need of medical care. This final group was relatively physically functional, if not quite whole in other ways.

Ransolm Casterfo, Leia’s old friend, was the last through the door. Seconds later Freya joined him, and they went through together.

The door opened into a deserted storage room, but Poe already knew this was a deception. He wound his way through the huge boxes piled to the ceiling, catching a glimpse of the Collective, shrouded all in white, who hid on top of the crates, tracking his path, blasters in hand.

Finally they reached a small side door where Anya was ushering the last of the prisoners through. She smiled when she saw him. “Is that everyone?” she asked. 

“Should be.”

She let him and Freya duck through first. As she pulled the door closed, Poe saw two of the Collective appear to push crates in front of the door, hiding it as if it had never been there. 

They entered a larger room, low-ceilinged and dark except for scattered yellow lights set high on the bare walls. Someone had set out long tables with food and drink. Nothing fancy, but the room had the feel of celebration about it. Muted, wary, but hopeful.

Poe and the others paused at the top of a small landing. Just below him, a handful of wide stairs led down into the main room, this one crowded with familiar faces and hushed conversation. He watched as Ransolm paused a few meters in front of him at the edge of the landing to look around, bewildered.

Leia approached Ransolm, a smile on her face as she climbed the steps. 

The man seemed to shake, arms still at his sides, until Leia, very gently, as if aware he might break, embraced him.

“I thought you were dead,” Poe heard her whisper. 

“But you came for me anyway, my friend.”

“I hoped,” she said simply. They stood there a moment longer, together, before she broke away. She pressed a hand to his arm. “Come meet everyone,” she said, ushering him into the room. Rose was there, and she took his hand, a warm smile of greeting on her face, and led him deeper into the room.

Leia watched them go before turning to Poe. 

“General,” he said. 

“Commander.”

Poe looked around. He saw that Leia and Rieekan had already turned the space into a sort of war room, a holomap of the galaxy spread out against one wall. 

“Did Nifera give you the list?” he asked. 

“Already disseminated,” Leia confirmed. “Yendor and Orrimaarko are making assignments now. We’ll find them all. Warn those who are in the First Order’s sights, rescue those in danger, and recruit who we can.”

“Yeah,” he said, absently. A sudden wash of doubt, and Poe felt daunted by the task ahead of them, but Leia’s voice brought him back, grounded him. 

“One step at a time,” she said, no doubt sensing his anxiety. “We’re not taking on the entire First Order tomorrow. We can’t. But we can take one step, and that earns us another day to take another step.”

“We can’t do it alone.”

“And we won’t. We’ll find people, we’ll inspire them. Show them they aren’t alone, show them what’s worth fighting for. And we’ll prepare and rebuild. This,” she said, gesturing to take in the room, “is a beginning.”

Poe took in all the faces, all the people who were now the Resistance. Nasz stood by the map, arms crossed, arguing something with Shriv. Yama hovered nearby, never far from the warlord. Black Squadron was spread around the room, all accounted for, as were Wedge and what remained of his hodgepodge Phantom Squadron, and C-3PO and R2-D2 and BB-8.

His heart swelled. He loved this, loved seeing them all together. But Leia was right. It still wasn’t enough. And now, he had to break them up. 

He stepped away from Leia, resting a hand briefly on her arm in gratitude as he passed. He planted his feet on the top step, surveying the room.

“We can’t stay here,” he said, projecting his voice over the assembly. Conversations faded as everyone turned to listen, faces wary. He cleared his throat, shaking off any lingering nerves. “If Ryloth showed us anything, it was that nowhere that the Resistance gathers is safe from the First Order.”

Silence so thick Poe was sure he could hear his own heartbeat. He took a deep breath, exhaled, and continued. 

“We can take joy in this victory,” he assured them. “We made an opportunity where there wasn’t any”—his gaze cut briefly to Shriv—“we freed those who were unjustly imprisoned, and we’ve found those who will mold the future of the Resistance. We can be proud.”

A round of applause that quickly died down when he raised his hand. 

“But this is just a first step,” he said with a nod of acknowledgment to Leia, “and we cannot rest.”

“What do we do next? Where do we go?” someone shouted. Heads turned. It was the young pilot, Agoyo. 

“Anywhere,” Poe said. “Everywhere. Every corner of the galaxy where someone is fighting tyranny, where someone is standing up against injustice. Because the Resistance is not just in this room. It is not only the people on that list. In fact, it is not one person or one place. It is a million people, a thousand places, each one the Resistance. So, what do we do now? We scatter to every corner of the galaxy, taking our message with us. We help those already fighting the First Order, we make allies, we sow the spark of resistance. And when the time comes, we will be ready. We will rise up, and we will fight. And all of us, together, will burn the First Order to the ground.”

More shouting and applause, and then he was surrounded, people slapping him on the back and laughing and calling his name in celebration. He soaked it all in, letting it wash his past away, allowing it to lift him to a better place. A future. 

“Poe.” It was Wedge, his arm in a sling, and beside him Norra. “We’re going, Poe,” he said. “I know you and Leia were hoping we’d stay around and lead or whatever, but . . .” He shook his head. “I . . . we . . . belong out there. In the stars. I know that now.”

“ _We_ know that now,” Norra added, slipping her hand into her husband’s. “And we can do good out there in the margins, like you said. Let people know a fight is coming.”

“We’re pilots, not generals,” Wedge added. “You understand.” 

Poe nodded. He did understand. And it wasn’t a complete surprise. “You’ll keep in touch?”

“Snap will know how to reach me.”

“Have you told him?”

“Told me what?” Snap asked as he took the stairs two at a time to join them. 

“We’re leaving, son,” Norra said, her voice soft, patient. 

Snap’s face clouded. “What? But you just got here.”

“I know,” Wedge said, “and now we need to go.”

“I’ll go with you,” Snap said hurriedly.

“I need you here, Black Squadron,” Poe countered gently. 

“But . . .” Snap looked at each of them, helplessly, scanning their faces for something. And whatever he saw there shuddered through his body as acceptance. “You always do this to me,” he murmured before asking, “You sure you have to go?”

“We’ll see you again,” Wedge assured him.

“We promise,” Norra added. She stepped forward and wrapped her son in a hug, arms tight around his big frame, before he could say no. But Poe didn’t think he would have said no, anyway, that much was clear from the way he melted into his mother’s embrace. Then Wedge was there, folding both mother and son into his arms and Poe stepped away to let the family say their goodbyes.

“Great speech,” Freya said, bounding up the steps, a glass in each hand. She handed Poe a drink, something dark and unpleasantly thick. “You’re getting pretty good at those.”

“Thanks.” Poe took a tentative sip. Awful. He set the mug down.

“So when do we leave?” Freya asked, eyes big over the edge of her glass as she drank. 

Poe cocked an eyebrow. “You coming with?”

“I don’t think you can stop me.”

“Where are we going?” A familiar voice asked. Both of them turned to find Rey with Finn, looking expectant. 

Freya grinned. “I didn’t want to ask.”

Finn grinned back. “You didn’t have to.” 

The two friends laughed, leaning in to touch shoulders in acknowledgment. Rey looked at Poe, eyes narrowed as if unsure. “You don’t mind?”

Poe pressed a hand to his heart, giving Rey a small bow. “I’m honored.”

She flushed, pleased, as he’d hoped she would be.

As he straightened, he caught Leia watching them, an expression he couldn’t quite read on her face. He looked back, eyebrow raised. Ah, he recognized that look now. Satisfaction.

“She knows,” Rey said, drawing his attention back. 

“Know’s what?” Poe asked.

“That the Resistance is in good hands,” Finn said, quietly. “That we won’t fail her.”

“Because of the Force?”

“I don’t think Leia needs the Force to tell her that,” Rey said.

“Ah! Right! She knows because she’s got us.” Poe slung an arm around Finn’s shoulders and pulled Rey in close on the opposite side while Freya stepped away and sipped on her drink. 

“Rose told us that Cori radioed to tell us that she found us a new Resistance base.” Rey mentions with a smile. 

Poe beams happily. This was it, the Resistance was coming back and all they needed to do was continue on. Step by step. 

“Now,” Finn nods, “let’s go save the galaxy.”

Avellian reminded Kylo of a dog as he ate some delicacies in the large conference room across from him, slurping and stuffing his cheeks like he was an empty bottomless pit. Perhaps it was too judgmental to compare him to a creature but yet, something just rubbed Kylo the wrong way when it came to their guest. He scrunched up his nose in slight disgust, drifting his eyes to land on Nova who sat straight with her elbows propped up on the table, attention glued to Avellian.

“So _you’re_ the one that helped Snoke guide us through the Unknown Regions . . .” She inquires. 

“Why yes,” he says with a wide smile, very amused that she picked up on his recent ramblings of himself and how he was good friends with Snoke. “Largely unexplored but nonetheless, me and my fellow pupils have roamed the labyrinth of solar storms, rogue magnetospheres, black holes, gravity wells, and things . . . far stranger.” 

Avellian slowly placed his hands down into his lap, appearing very solemn in the moment and Nova furrows her brows. Kylo mirrors her, seeing how his whole body language changed from seemingly outgoing and lively to reserved and collected in just a matter of seconds. 

“Please forgive me, General Hux,” he begins, staring at Armitage and leans forwards and rests his own arms on the table, interlacing his fingers together. “I did come here to help the First Order and to give vessels and weapons as needed. However, there is a slight . . . _problem_. One that needed to be addressed as soon as possible for I fear it may disrupt any and all future plans of this regime.” 

Hux gives him an authoritative nod, after all, he did arrange for Avellian to meet with them. “Proceed.” 

Bluntly, he states, “Palpatine is alive.” 

Kylo instantly clutches his fists, the tightening of leather sounding throughout the room and the Knights that all surrounded him and Nova stand taller, hoisting their weapons high in case of needed action. 

“It appears that he’s hiding within the Unknown Regions, on the planet of Exegol.” 

Kylo knew it. He just knew that the Emperor was somehow still alive! It was one of the jagged, non-fitting pieces of putting together the life of Nova’s father to make sense of how she came to be. His eyes instantly flickered over to Nova who frowned and began twiddling with her fingers, something she often did whenever she was trying to figure things out mentally. 

“Impossible.” Kylo found himself saying firmly, peering his eyes at Avellian. The older man just eyed him as if he had been expecting that type of reaction from the young adult. “He’s dead.” 

“The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.” He speaks nonchalantly. 

“Immortality . . .” Nova utters. 

Avellian grins, motioning towards her and looks at Hux. “I like her. She’s a bright one.” 

“Mr. Avellian,” Armitage interlaces his own fingers and stares at him. “Thank you for bringing this to our attention but I must concur with Supreme Leader Ren on this. How do we know for sure that the Emperor is alive, and is in hiding?” 

“A transmission.” A simple answer. “One was sent out three days ago.” He then clears his throat for a brief moment, reciting the message: “‘At last the work of generations is complete. The great error is corrected. The day of victory is at hand. The day of revenge. The day’ . . .” 

“‘The day of the Sith’.” Nova finishes for him, rubbing the back of her neck and digs her middle finger into the back of her cervical spine. She heard the transmission clearly in her head that day, and it took so much energy out of her. She could only imagine what else the Emperor was capable of from being miles and miles away. 

Avellian nods. “It was transmitted all over, to anyone listening, luckily I was. This gives us a great advantage against the Resistance. They’re too busy running from the First Order, trying to find shelter and radioing to one another that none of them would have the mind to switch channels and hear of the very well alive Emperor.” A pause. “Gives us time to find him.”

“Wait,” Nova ponders for a second. “How are we going to do that? I mean, no offense but from what I’ve read Exegol’s surrounding space is littered with the remains of megafauna which results in a cloud of red gas and stardust to form a navigational barrer.” A moment of silence. “That’s why no one can find it.” 

“No one can find it because no one knows about the Sith Wayfinders.” Avellian stands, pacing back and forth in front of Nova, Hux, Kylo, and the Knights of Ren. “Let alone that two were made.” 

“Why two?” 

“You heard of the Rule of Two, Ms. Hux?” He looked at her with a sly grin that was friendly and filled with delight. 

She nods tenderly. “The Sith philosophy established by Darth Bane in order for the Sith to operate in secret and get revenge on the Jedi Order. Yes.” 

A bigger smile appears on his lips, displaying his perfectly shaped and whitened teeth. “The same applies for the artifacts. One for the Sith master, the other for the apprentice. In recent history, they belonged to the Emperor and Lord Vader.” He then sighs exhaustedly. “But there’s just another slight problem, the Wayfinders can only be accessed by their grandchildren.” 

Nova turns her head directly to Kylo, the grandson of Anakin Skywalker—of the most fearsome Sith that ever lived. Darth Vader. 

_Grandchildren._ Avellian had said and she shot her head back in his direction, eyes slightly wide. 

“Palpatine had a grandchild?” 

Avellian shrugs. “So legend says. They may be long gone by now, I believe . . .”

“What makes you say that?” Nova leans in closer, sitting up right in her chair and she feels Vicrul mirroring her steps. 

“The Emperor sent out one of his loyal followers to collect the child, and to kill it in fear of what it may become. Because of the power that they held.” 

Nova’s heart then sank into her stomach, it was as if she could feel the acid eating away at it. What kind of monster would send out an assassin to kill their own family? Their own flesh and blood? 

“And if it wasn’t the executioner that got the child, then surely it was someone who figured them out.” 

She shook her head, she just couldn’t understand what he was saying. “Why?” Her voice wavered. 

“Emperor Palpatine created the most feared Sith in history who used to be a Jedi Knight and was respected and before that, he killed Darth Plageuis in his sleep. The Galactic Empire has scarred many people and all of these years, they are _still_ trying to heal but it’s not so easy whenever the First Order is around to remind them of that time. People become afraid and being afraid turns into hate. Hate then shifts into anger, and anger leads to revenge. Those who would’ve figured out the lineage of the child would have struck them down without a mere second thought, because in that moment, they would’ve believed that they prevented another Empire on the rise.”

Nova dug her nails into her palms tight, she was feeling a mix of emotions and she was trying to ground herself but it was no use. She was going to explode if she couldn’t vent her inner thoughts. 

“You just . . . You can’t just kill a child because of who they’re related to!” Her fists raise and firmly pound on the table before her, staring down at her glossy black reflection. “They’re someone entirely different from the rest of their family members. The child wasn’t responsible for the Empire, wasn’t responsible for turning Anakin into Darth Vader, and they weren’t responsible for their years of suffering.” 

She fumed under the surface, her voice had raised here and there but she wasn’t channeling anything. Too much hate led to pain, and it wasn’t in her to deal with such a thing. Nova rarely had a mean bone in her body, she had no desire to hurt anyone voluntarily, or even willingly, because she knew just how that felt. Nova was too sensitive and often too quiet for her own good, sure there’ve been a few times where she accidentally Force pushed Armitage without blinking an eye but she always felt horrible and guilty afterwards. The young girl was deep within an emotional ocean with roaring waves: either drowning or clinging to a piece of driftwood for she never learned just how to swim on her own.

 _You’re too soft. You’re emotional._ She remembers Snoke telling her in the throne room as if it just happened seconds ago. _You care about other people and what they think._

Nova didn’t realize how much her left hand was shaking until a gloved hand rests itself atop to put it to rest and she already knew it was Kylo who was trying to calm her down. Accepting his notion to help, she uncurls her fingers and allows them to enclose around his pinkie and ring finger. His thumb strokes the tops of her knuckles, trying to soothe her as he now began speaking in a calm and cool manner. 

“Snoke has never mentioned you before to any of us. Not to my Knights, not to General Hux, not to Nova, and certainly not to me. Why should we even trust you?” 

Avellian sits back down into his seat and scoots in close to the table, his stare observing the grandson of Darth Vader. “I’m guessing Snoke didn’t tell you a lot of things, Supreme Leader. And yet here we are, seeing each other eye to eye and learning all sorts of secrets.” He then leans back, body relaxing and shoulders going slump. “You want to keep your First Order, and let the galaxy remain under your control? You are going to have to seek out _your_ Sith Wayfinder to get to Palpatine and claim your rightful place.” 

_No,_ Kylo thought. He didn’t want any of that. His mind kept on going back to what Avellian said about Palpatine sending out an assassin to try and kill his own grandchild—Nova. The Emperor really sent Ochi of Bestoon to kill Nova when she was only ten years old and when he couldn’t find her, he killed her mother and stepfather. The girl had lost both parents, had already been through so much at so young an age. That was the nature of war, to put children through hell, to murder their parents and turn them into orphans. 

His own inner rage began bubbling up like hot lava, demanding to erupt and set fire to everything surrounding him but never _her_.

He _will_ find the Sith Wayfinder that had belonged to his grandfather. He _will_ go to Exegol and face the Emperor by himself if he has too, and he _will_ kill Palpatine for trying to harm the one thing in Kylo’s life that brought him such relief and new purpose. For trying to get rid of what they share within the cosmic Force. He killed Snoke to protect Nova and exact his revenge, he certainly could do so again. 

“Where do we start?” 

Five months. Five very long, excruciating months of searching for Vader’s Wayfinder. The Knights, Nova, and Kylo have been on six planets since then: Dathomir, Coruscant, Geonosis, Kamino, Bespin, and Florrum. And currently, they were on Bogano. 

Bogano was a very grassy landscape, covered in mesas, composed of broken up ravines and sinkholes with water filled caves beneath the thin surface. It was uninhabited for a long time until an inquisitor named Second Sister came here in search of a holocron with the name of all the Jedi children with her Purge Troopers. Since the fall of the Empire, no one has visited since. The Knights of Ren, Kylo, and Nova were the only ones. Or so they believed. 

Nova wandered off by herself, heading towards the Bogdo Sinkholes, turning to the right to see an old pipe sticking out from the cliff and snaked over to a camouflaged room that was behind a huge metal spinning fan. Curious, she placed her foot out on the pipe, testing its sturdiness and began her walk across. Nearing the huge fan, she thrust out her left hand, calling on the Force and the mighty sharp blades began slowing down. Nova moved quick, slipping through with ease and the blades instantly went back to normal. 

Peering into the hidden room below her, she saw the bottom filled with ankle high water and three blade fans that blocked the platform that was in the back of the room. Squinting to examine the rest of the area surrounding her, she noticed a canister high up on a ledge towards her left. Strolling over, she sees that the section of the wall was riddled in ridges which was perfect for climbing. Rubbing her delicate yet hardened hands from over the years, Nova gets hold and begins scaling up. Hand over hand, foot over foot, grunting with effort as she reached the grassy extension and pulled herself up and over. 

Nova rolls onto her back, drawing in a deep breath and stares up at the rock ceiling before tilting her head back to see the canister above her. Flipping herself over and onto her stomach, Nova stands and wanders over to it. She reaches out with her left, hovering her hand there for a moment, sensing what was in it before opening the hatch. 

Inside, there were stim packs and Nova picked up one, inspecting the glowing blue green liquid. It was mesmerizing, a pretty color and it reminded her of a miniature lightsaber. She’s only ever heard of them from Elsie so being able to witness the miraculous liquid medical solution was quite a remarkable thing, at least for her it was. 

She places them into her haversack and climbs back down, slowing down the fan blades and escapes through and leaves on the pipe. In the middle of the pipe, Nova abruptly stopped and listened in for a moment, feeling a sensation calling to her. On her left, there was another pipe that stuck out from under one cliff and she leaped over onto it carefully, side stepping along the steel and onto the cracked stone that allowed grass to grow up through. 

Heading down a narrow passage in the middle of a ravine and peeking around a corner, Nova catches sight of three Zabraks toying with a droid of some sort who was scaredly beeping in a waterlogged section that seemed to be home of an Oggdo Bogdo. A rare subspecies, a dangerous predator that was highly aggressive, large, and whose shell was lightsaber resistant. 

The droid squeals a beep and Nova stepped on out, “Hey!” She shouts and the three Zabraks turn to her. They were all male and with small horns: one was the color of the desert with white facial tattoos, another of snow with dark blue markings, and the third a forest fire with black tattoos. They fan out and the droid scurried off in a blur, hiding which gave her a small moment to breathe, knowing she helped the little guy escape some horrible and cruel fate.

“Hello Nova,” the one with blue face tattoos sneers and he noticed how her posture changed from hearing her own name escape his lips. Fear circling within her belly and gripping at her heart with a tight squeeze. “Oh, yes. We _know_ who you are. Bet you can’t say the same for yourself.” 

“Have you been following us?” She questions. 

Ever since Dathomir, mysterious things had been going on whenever the Knights, Kylo, and her touched down and spent their days searching for the Sith Wayfinder. They have been following leads from left to right trying to pursue a myth that Avellian told them about, so they didn’t think too much about missing things that they figured that they’ve misplaced. But things got more out of hand, like Nova’s leather cuff vanishing for two days, reappearing and disappearing again.

Her eyes scan, spotting it on the one’s arm and her heart almost leaped out of her throat. Without a second thought, her right hand lingers to her side where her hilt hung on her belt. “Give it back.” 

“Or what? What are _you_ going to do?” The sandy colored Zabrak asks and brings out an electrostaff from behind his back, the ends of it crackling with purple electricity. 

His band of brothers follow in suit with pulling out their own weapons and Nova’s hand drifts away from her lightsaber, seeing how they wanted to fight with melee weapons and nothing else that had the touch of the Force, or even magick. The red man wore her cuff, wielding a zhaboka and the white one held a long dagger, readying their stances to charge and pounce. Nova took in a deep breath to calm her senses, and placed her right foot back behind her left. With set eyes, she waited. 

The snowy ashed Zabrak takes the first lunge, Nova dodging smoothly by ducking down under the blade, extending out her body and bringing her foot up with a powerful swing as he gets behind her. She kicks the blade from his grip, sending it high in the air and as he watches it in pure shock, she twists her body and with her other leg, Nova strikes his jaw. Down he splashes in the muddy shallow puddle and she snatches the dagger’s handle as it hurtled directly back down to earth. She spins, pointing that blade at the others and stares down the man who wore her cuff.

“I’m going to ask again,” she huffs. “Give, me, the cuff.” 

He starts out in a sprint with his zhaboka but Nova flings that dagger, it sticking directly into his thigh which caused him to yelp in pain and fall back onto his bottom with a hard thud. He snarls, seeing how the blade went in deep to hurt but not to kill. Seething, he orders, “Get her! _Now_!”

 _Retreat._ A voice in her head tells her and she listens. Nova leaped off her foot and ran, trying to find safety away from the caverns and sinkholes. 

On the pipe, she rushes but pauses once in a while to maintain balance and not fall to the depths below. Crossing over onto the other one, the electrostaff Zabrak jumps in front of her, blocking her path and begins swinging left to right with the weapon. Nova ducked, dipped, and dodged, blacking up on the steel to where the huge fan was. 

Every step of giving ground, the man took it and grinned evilly as if he knew this would happen. Throwing his whole body, he whips the staff to the left and Nova crouches, her foot slipping in the process but she quickly stablizes as he thrusts the staff outwards with both of his hands. She catches the horizontal bar, pushing against his strength and gritting her teeth, wishing that her boots had more traction on the bottom of them to hold her in place. The man took a step and another, pushing the young scavenger closer and closer to the menacing blades of the fan and she heard them chopping at the air. 

Trying to redirect the man’s strength, Nova’s eyes narrowed in and stared deeply into his black eyes, a straining ache forming in the base of her forearms and it pulsed as if it were alive. Her jaw clenches tight as she’s pushed closer to the blades and wind blowing at her back, making her long brown hair whip off of the side. She was too near for her liking, releasing her left hand off the staff and reaching back behind her to use the Force to slow down the turbine. The amount of strain that was taking place was wearing her down, pressing a groan out from her gut. 

Taking a small peer down on the platform that she was on, she hadn’t noticed before but the pipe widened at the base under the fan which was big enough for a person to lie down or sit if needed. It gave her an idea and she ran with it, shooting her attention back up at her attacker and gripping the staff with her left hand again. 

She jerks the staff towards her and rocks down onto her back, kicking the Zabrak over her body with her legs. His hands slip from the electrostaff, his entire self flying over her and through the fan’s opening, crashing on the rusted metal platform with a thud. Nova gets up, recovering quick and wields the staff firmly, panting. The man stands, growling as he shakes off the dust and scrapes. 

“Why you little—” He charges forwards but the Force releases the blades, trapping them behind the deadly instrument and he shouts and curses at her in his native tongue which she was fluent in. 

Backing away slowly, she throws the staff into a sinkhole and begins retracing her steps. Nova was heading back to where she last saw Kylo and the Knights, to tell them that they have been followed and that their pursuers were there on the planet. 

Jumping and scaling up small platforms, she was about to reach where the Night Buzzard was parked until she felt a violent tug on the back of her sashes as she was trying to pull herself up on the one slab of rock. On her spine she hits hard, all the wind getting knocked from her lungs and it burns like a fire. She coughs, trying to catch her breath and stares up to see the red skinned Zabrak who was severely angry as his pant leg was soaking in blood from the wound that she had given him. 

“Nova, Nova, Nova,” he tsks, grinning and dawning the long dagger before her, showing her reflection in the glistening red liquid that coated it. “I do have to give you applause for your style of fighting. Never had someone thrown a knife at me like that before. It curved so effortlessly and perfectly, and your stance . . . One of a Jedi kind but how is that?” 

Regaining air and strength, she slowly props herself up onto her elbows, looking up at the man and eyes her black leather cuff that was still on his wrist. 

He sees her eyeing it and evilly chuckles. “You know it’s rude not to answer someone’s question.” He tears off the cuff, inspecting it as if it was his first time ever seeing the article of clothing. “What’s so special about this little thing? It’s simply _replaceable_.” 

Before Nova could even react, he dangles the cuff over the one foggy abyss and lets it go. Down and down it went, vanishing forever and in that moment, Nova felt as if her whole world was crumbling around her. Her eyes were glued to where it fell, tears pushing their way to fall down onto her cheeks; her last connection to Rey, her promise was gone. 

“Don’t worry, you’ll join it soon.” He raises the dagger high and— _zoop!_ A small red hole burnt through his chest, his body going limp and clashing down on the ground. 

Cardo lowered his blaster as Vicrul kneels down over the ridge, holding his hand out to Nova and she shakily takes it, standing up. “You okay?” He asks and she nods, her mind still replaying the moment when her cuff dropped. 

A small beep echoes from behind her and Nova turns while Cardo and Vicrul ready their weapons. She sees something white and red duck down behind a small boulder and she places up her hand to signal for the older boys to stand down as she carefully makes way. 

“Hello?” Her voice is warm and soft, and she pauses once she sees the droid’s head peek over the rock. “You’re not hurt, are you?” 

A small boo-beep from the little droid makes her smile, the sadness that was feeling slowly melts away. 

“Well I’m glad that I stopped them before they could. I’m Nova.” 

This time the droid trills with excitement. 

“It’s nice to meet you, BD-1.” 

BD-1 steps out, showing Nova his tiny self and she examines him with pure adoration. He was an exploration droid, designed to assist in remote and dangerous locations. The BD unit was bipedal, and had white plating with a few red panels here and there with black sensors. 

She reaches her hand down, offering him friendship and waits. The droid steps over in slight hurry, tilting his head up at her and climbing up her arm before resting onto her back and scouting over her left shoulder. 

She may have lost something but something new was in its place, and though it would never match up to the significance, something about BD-1 reminded Nova of shelter. Of home. 

“How many more are there?” Rey called from inside the Millennium Falcon. Large cargo crates were stacked tightly in the Falcon’s hold, and as the service droids loaded the containers, the orange and white astromech, BB-8, rolled around them, beeping encouragement and helpful instructions. As the droids settled the crates, Rey strapped them down, a precautionary measure in case things shifted during flight. 

They never knew when they were going to have to fight for their lives. It was good to be prepared. 

For the past few days, Rey, Finn, Freya, and Rose Tico had been gathering supplies for the Resistance. They’d traveled all over the Outer Rim, avoiding the First Order as much as possible, and although they had a few near misses, they’d made it safely to Fermic, a factory planet with air that stank of the nearby fuel refineries. Thankfully, this was their last stop. Chewie, Anya Khan, and Poe Dameron had been on a similar assignment of their own, and Rey looked forward to getting the supplies back to the Resistance and seeing her friends again. 

“That’s the last of them,” Rose called from the bottom of the boarding ramp. BB-8 rolled toward her and then back up the ramp ahead of her, beekeeping happily to welcome the Resistance mechanic aboard. Relief began to overwhelm Rey, but she quashed the feeling. Their supply run had gone without incident, and that was always something to be happy about. But there was still a long road ahead of them. Rey felt like every moment that ticked by was another chance for the First Order to expand their influence, and for Nova to fall from where she was. 

She couldn’t rest just yet. There was still so much work to do. 

Finn closed the hatch after shooing in a few porgs that had taken up residence in the Falcon, so they wouldn’t be left on Fermic. 

Rey smiles at the sight before turning to Rose who held a worried and thoughtful look. “Do you think we’ll have any trouble on the way back?” She asked. 

Rey shook her head in response to Rose’s query. “It seems like the First Order hasn’t made it to this part of the galaxy just yet. We’ll clear the atmosphere and jump to hyperspace as soon as possible. That should help us avoid any trouble.” 

Rose nodded. “Good. Trouble is definitely something we don’t need.” 

One of the progs shirruped loudly, a sound something between a trill and a scream, and landed on Finn’s head. He waved it away. “Not now, Dita. I’ll give you snacks later.” 

“Dita?” The girls asked, glancing at the porg as it chewed at Finn’s pant leg. 

“What?” He eyes them, genuinely confused. “I named all of them. Dita, Jordan, Tessalie, Oliver . . .” At the incredulous looks at the girls were giving him, Finn’s voice trailed off and he blushed in embarrassment. 

“Alright ladies,” Freya announces from her copilot’s seat, flipping switches. “Let’s head out of here and back home.” 

Finn began helping Rose with strapping down the rest of the crates as Rey entered the cockpit, sitting down in her seat. Her heart was light, and even though there would be tough battles in the future, she allowed herself a moment to be happy but it was short lived. 

Four TIE fighters were approaching rapidly and Rey strapped herself in just as they began firing on without warning. She quickly maneuvered the Falcon out of the way of the blasts, Freya gripped her harness and held on until the ride smoothed out a bit. A few porgs inside the cockpit fled with a chorus of dismayed trills, their wings beating as they flew to less chaotic spaces. 

“What’s going on?” Rose said over the intercom.

“We’ve got company from the First Order variety. Rose, get to the top gun. Finn, can you grab the belly gun?” 

“On it!” Finn dashed down the corridor toward the gun bays. BB-8 beeped a reprimand after him and suddenly, the Falcon tilted, sending him against the wall of the corridor. 

“Sorry!” Rey called over the intercom. “We’re going to have to start firing back or things are going to get very ugly.” 

“Here we go!” Rose called. 

The sound of the top gun firing filled Finn with a sense of relief. He made his way to the ladder that led to the gun bays, gripping each side and sliding rather than stepping down the rungs. In less than two seconds he sat in the ventral gunner’s seat and strapped in. The gun took a few moments to warm up, and then two of the TIE fighters appeared on his screen. 

“Rey, can you take them on a bit of chase?” Finn asked. “I don’t have a clear shot.” 

“There’s an ice ring a little ways away,” Rey said. “Looks like there’s some decent cover in there. I can try and make a run for it. But I don’t know if they’ll follow.” 

“They will,” Finn nods. “If there’s one thing the First Order likes, it’s a fight.” 

The Falcon tilted sharply to the right as Rey began a zigzagging approach to the ice ring. On Finn’s display the TIE fighters followed, their turns faster than but not nearly as controlled as Rey’s. One of the TIE fighters tried to overcompensate and Finn fired as the targeting system locked on. Through the gun window, he saw the TIE fighter explode in shades of red and white. 

“Nice shot!” Rey shouted in approval, and Finn smiled remembering the first time that they were in a TIE chase with the Falcon. They were fleeing from Jakku and Rey was piloting and Finn manned the guns, just like now. How the Force really worked in mysterious ways. 

The Falcon shuddered and shook. “Looks like one of them had a nice shot, as well.” Rose comments. 

The Falcon tilted once more, this time to the left. Finn tried shooting the TIE fighters, but their turns were more controlled now, and the targeting system refused to lock. 

“Yah!” Rose shouted from the nearby bay, and another explosion echoed dully through the Falcon. “I got one.” 

The freighter swayed, dipping this way and that as Rey took them through the ice ring toward Minfar. Finn’s gun display was a mess of red lines and speeding triangles but nothing close to being a good shot. At that rate, those last two TIE fighters were going to end up getting the better of them. 

The Falcon lurched, explosions echoing through the ship as the TIE fighters fired on them. There were heavier thuds, as well, as Rey steered them into several chunks of ice. They began to spin, and Finn gripped the gun controls tightly. A porg flew past, screeching in dismay as it tried to account for the chaotic motion of the ship and landed in Finn’s lap. 

“I just lost power to four of the engines. I’m trying to get out of this ice field, but we’re slowing,” Rey states. There was worry in her voice. 

“Finn, cover those last two ships. I’ll get down there and check out the engines,” Rose shouted, jumping down from the gun bay. 

Finn took a deep breath and let it out, focusing on the Force that surrounded him: Two TIE fighters left. The Falcon swooping and diving as Rey fought to maintain control. Tessalie nesting in his lap to try and feel secure. Rose rushing to the engines. And lastly, Freya doing her damn bestst to help Rey and maintain her determination to get out of this alive.

Then light pierces the veil and Finn feels his confidence. “Rey, double back around and give me one clear shot.” 

“Okay! Hold on.” Rey called. The Falcon tilted in an instant as the TIE fighters began to close in, Rey giving Finn the perfect angle to lock on to an unwary enemy ship. 

Finn pressed the firing mechanism, following the Force to guide him and was rewarded with a brilliant display of red and orange sparks flying in every direction as the TIE fighter exploded. 

“Rey, remember that maneuver back on Jakku?” He didn’t have to elaborate, she already knew what he was meaning. 

The engines cut out and Finn watched as the TIE fighter blazed past, firing with reckless abandon as they dipped, flipping upside down. The TIE slowed and Finn fired, seeing it explode and over the intercom Rey cheered with Freya as she put the engines back on and straightened out the freighter. 

They entered hyperspace quick, heading back to the Resistance base. 

In the Night Buzzard, Nova was sitting at her tiny workbench station with BD-1, investigating him and she was impressed by what she was seeing. The small two legged droid was compacted with all types of gizmos and gadgets; a thruster for hovering but not flying, a spotlight, a Holoprojector, a scomp link and he even had with a stim dispenser. She handed the stims to him and he stored them with ease, trilling and she laughed. Picking him up and carrying the little guy, Nova settled him on the med bay cot, telling him to rest which was an odd request for a droid but nonetheless, BD-1 listened and settled down and his sensor eye shut off for a nap. 

In the cockpit, Kuruk piloted with Ap’Lek sitting in the copilot seat and Kylo stood behind them with the others. Vicrul informed Kylo of what had happened and he was fuming under his exterior; no one would be dumb enough to follow him and the Knights unless they were tasked with the job and payed heavily. Someone told them to follow and to attack Nova, to use her tenderness against her in the form of harming a helpless droid. And there was only one person that was coming to mind; the Emperor. 

“Whoever had BD-1 loved him a whole lot,” Nova’s voice breaks through his hardened expression, his eyes softening as he faces her. 

She looked rough, exhausted and yet, she still had a glow about her that seemed to illuminate everything around them. He gives her a tender nod, letting her know that she wasn’t intruding on any conversation and that she could continue on with her speaking. 

“Upgraded to control Imperial machines, has two processing devices to hack probe droids and KX-series security droids, and a motor to carry someone up ziplines.” Nova folds her arms in front of her chest. “I can only imagine the adventures and hardships he’s been through for being so small. Must have a hard time trusting people . . .” Her voice trails off. 

Kylo recognized that subtle tell from anywhere. Nova was originally speaking about BD-1 but the more she began speaking, the more she realized that she had in common in him. Both went to different planets, endured many tasks, and were changed. They’re small, delicate, but both happy and so alive. Ultimately, Nova and BD-1 were meant to meet and Kylo believed that. Nothing happens by accident when the Force is involved. He may have not liked the circumstances of it, but Kylo was glad that he could see her smile once again. 

When they were leaving Bogano, Nova asked if the BD unit could join them and he sensed her emotions just as much as he could feel the bright, burning light on his cheeks. She was hopeful, wanted the droid to belong somewhere and to not be alone. She sensed his importance, just how had Kylo when he first met her and asked Snoke if she could join the First Order. Kylo accepted and from that, Nova seemed like her old self again. 

“Where we heading to next?”

Kylo turns, facing out the viewport and steps over to give her room to peer out as well. They watch as the stars stretch as they enter hyperspace, a dazzling display of white and blue enclosing all around them and the Night Buzzard.

“Mustafar.”


	24. Simulation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The dead speak! The galaxy has heard a mysterious broadcast, a threat of revenge in the sinister voice of the late Emperor Palpatine.
> 
> General Leia Organa dispatches secret agents to gather intelligence, while Rey and Finn, the last hope of the Jedi, trains for battle against the diabolical First Order.
> 
> Meanwhile, Supreme Leader Kylo Ren is in search of the phantom Emperor, determined to destroy the looming threat that's hanging over Nova's head.

Once there was a boy who was born with an extraordinary gift. He could hear things, see things, and do things others could not. His mother shared a similar gift, as did his uncle, but not this father. What was special about the boy’s gift was that he heard voices from time to time. The voices told him secret things and warned him when he was in danger. He did as the voices instructed and told no one else about them, not his parents or his uncle, who trained him to join a new order of Jedi Knights. As the boy grew older, the voices faded from his dreams until he forgot about them altogether. But their influence remained. He eventually spurned his uncle’s teachings and used his gift not for good but for evil. His parents had named him Ben, but the name he took for himself was Kylo Ren. 

And Kylo Ren had finally made it to Mustafar after a three day trip. 

Mustafar was a world of hot spots and groundquakes, volcanoes and fissures. A world with an unstable core that cracked continents and spewed fire through those cracks. A world where lava flowed in rivers and ash fell like rain. A world seemingly angry with itself. 

It was a world where Kylo Ren should have felt at home but upon arrival, he felt nothing of the sort. This red hot world where Anakin Skywalker died and Darth Vader had ruled began to cool. Where there had been death, was life. A thicket of irontrees had sprouted in the once molten plains near his grandfather’s castle. A band of rag-garbed, goggle-wearing colonists known as the Alazmec surrounded the thicket, defiantly raising crude weapons as if they were the trees’ sacred protectors. 

Kylo, Nova, and the Knights of Ren stood a few meters away from the defenders. 

“Bow to the Supreme Leader of the First Order,” Cardo announces. 

The colonists’ goggles flickered like a constellation of stars. One among them screeched from under a burlap scarf. Kylo picked up enough words to understand the meaning: “We bow only to one, the Dark Lord, the true father and ruler of the galaxy. Vader.”

These Alazmec were pilgrims, having ventured to Mustafar to honor Darth Vader. Though the Dark Lord had perished a generation before, the fear he had inspired proved so deep rooted that cults had sprung up worshiping him. To seek the very power that he had. 

“If you bow to Vader,” Kylo told them, “you bow to me.” 

His black cloak billowed behind him. His hair, stringy and dark, caught ashes in the wind. His eyes, taking in all his opponents, did not blink. Most recognized Kylo Ren by his mask, but he glared at the Alazmec with his human face. It was scarred and cruel and perhaps more frightening than anything he could wear, because it showed he was real and his power was real. 

A few of the Alazmec wavered, but none bowed. If they would not recognize his power, he would have to show them. Kylo ignites his lightsaber, scarlet plasma burst from the hilt, one long beam for the blade and two smaller beams for the crossguard. All crackling like trapped flames, barely contained. He had built the saber himself, using a fractured kyber crystal to energize the beams. Its instability made wielding the weapon like playing with fire. Kylo had designed it that way, for he had been playing with fire most of his life. 

The cult began to move fast, bringing out their weapons to strike but Nova was quicker. She raised both arms and thrusted them outwards, using Force stasis to slow down the large group for a moment as the Knights readied their weapons and charged forwards to join Kylo. 

The air was hazy with fog but Nova was able to keep her eye on Kylo as he moved fluidly through, the scatter blasters, clubs, axes, and metal swords being no match for his red blade. Those who tried to run from him didn’t get far, the Knights took care of them. 

Three began to head for Nova and she ignited her own red blade, doding two blaster bolts but deflected the last, redirecting it back into the one cultist member who dropped in an instant. She flips backwards, avoiding a swing from an axe and lands safely in a crouch. Extending upwards, Nova throws her lightsaber, the humming weapon flying through the air and hitting the two with deadly slashes that cut them through. It returns back into her grasp and she lowers into her holding stance, sensing an oncoming charge and she turns, blocking an overhead blow from a club.

Kylo grips the hilt of his lightsaber in a reverse grip, spinning his body backwards and stabs his blade into the back of a barbarian, an incoming attack from his left that he sensed. Throwing out his left hand, he brings the being forwards and twirls, pulling his lightsaber from the man behind him and strikes at the chest. Strutting towards the last one in his sight, Kylo grabs his arm and ducks under, bringing up his lightsaber and cuts it off. 

Dead bodies of the cultists lay scattered in the dirt around the trees, his and his Knights path of destruction on display for all to see. The air smelled of ozone and scorched vegetation as he panted heavily, catching his breath. All was eerily silent until he heard a slight grunt, peering over his shoulder to see the last remaining Alazmec member falling to reveal Nova. Her white long sleeved tunic was bathed in ash, mud and swampy soil. Messy strands of her hair had fallen out from her ponytail, framing her dirted ashed face perfectly and beautifully as she gazed upwards, slowly returning the stare back at him. 

Suddenly, they both felt the stain of life—not the dull mindlessness of the irontrees but a being that was strong, intelligent, cunning. It called to them, a low rumble coming from a dense grove of trees. Nova and Kylo strode towards the sound, their lightsabers in hand. 

In the center of a grove where mists circled was a peaty bog which Nova found odd considering that a marshland shouldn’t exist on a volcanic world and yet, there it is, reeking of the Dark Side. Partially submerged in the muck was a massive humanoid head, completely hairless with pointed ears, closed eyes, and a piglike nose. A spidery creature of many eyes and many limbs crowned the head with its long legs gripping the sides as if the creature inserted itself into the skull, and its abdomen throbbed as it fed on its host’s brain. 

Nova eyed the creature, feeling the familiar climb of BD-1 traveling up her boot, pant leg, belt, and up onto her back where he perched and began scanning the being before them. He beeps and with his confirmation, Kylo kept his saber lit. Mustarfarian myths told of an oracle who dwelled in a hidden swamp and possessed the ability to tell the future and that very frable was now before them. The Eye of Webbish Bog. 

“Seed of Solo,” it hissed. “You have defeated my protectors, and so you have earned my wisdom.” 

The oracle moved one of its legs, and as if pulled by a puppet string, the host’s gigantic five fingered hand emerged from the mud. One rubbery finger pointed beyond the bog. The mists parted, and through a gap in the irontress, Kylo saw the ruins of Lord Vader’s fortress. 

“In the castle of your kin there is a domain of darkness. There you will find an ancient wayfinder,” the oracle said as Kylo stared at the ruins. “That wayfinder will reveal a path to one you seek. Be warned—secrets weary of their tyranny.” 

When Kylo looked back, the Eye of Webbish Bog was staring at Nova and he felt his throat clench. What exactly was the creature going to speak of? If anything, he hoped that it would not fall prey upon the name of Emperor Palpatine. 

“A scavenger from Jakku,” it remarks and she stares up at him. “Born and raised, passed off as nothing more than a pawn. Listen carefully, this fiery planet burns away deception. If you must proceed, you will encounter what you fear most.”

Just then, the immense head that the creature sat on had sunk into the mud. A belch of surface bubbles was the only proof that it had not been imagined by either one of them. 

Nova and Kylo tread carefully around the bog and walked out of the irontree grove. They crossed the plains that smoked from cooling magma and approached the castle. Once it stood tall and straight, a central obsidian tower flanked by two angled spires. Now the castle lay in shambles, blasted apart. And the Dark Side drifted around it like phantom wisps. 

Like a hunter on a trail, Kylo followed the wisps through the ruins, guided only by his instincts. He pictured himself in his grandfather’s boots, red saber in hand, unafraid of anyone. He would have given anything to meet the great man, just once. 

He reached out with the Force on the chance that, as the pilgrims claimed, Vader’s ghost haunted the ruins. 

No one answered his call. 

The wisps led Kylo to an area where irontrees had sprouted. Most of the rubble had been cleared away except for a cracked column atop which rested a stone ark. He sensed almost immediately that he was on hallowed ground. Vader had spent many hours in meditation there, pondering the future and plotting revenge against his enemies. Perhaps he had foreseen his grandson finding the ark one day. Perhaps he had even left a message. 

The ark bore no handles or knobs, for the key to opening it was nothing physical. Kylo put his hands on the lid and gave it a hard shove with the Force. The lid fell to smash onto the ground, BD-1 boo-beeping and hovered down behind Nova’s shoulder, watching with curiosity. He gives it a quick scan, logging the triangular device into his databanks. 

Kylo reached inside the ark and pulled out a small object shaped like a pyramid, holding it up for Nova to see it as well. Navigational symbols had been etched on each of its glassy sides and a sickly green glow emitted from its center with a red pulsing light. Avellian had been right, and for that, he was grateful but it made the next part harder.

They had to head to Exegol. 

The jungle was alive, and Finn and Rey were alive with it. 

The two of them darted through the dense brush, never stopping, never slowing. Finn dipped under half hidden branches and brushed off a webweaver off his shoulder while Rey hopped over exposed roots and dodged the flick of a zymond’s poisonous tongue. When they both came upon swampy ground, the duo grabbed creeper vines and swung over it. Their breathing remained steady throughout and didn’t break a sweat, despite the humidity of Ajan Kloss. They moved through the jungle as if they lived there their entire lives. 

Such was the power of the Force. For those who opened themselves up to it, even the most foreign environments could become like home. 

No matter how fast Finn and Rey ran, they couldn’t shake off their pursuers. They whizzed through the air behind them, four combat remotes—one blue, one white, one green, and one red—targeting them with stingbeams. Though they couldn’t sense the robotic devices the same way they could living organisms, they were able to track them by discerning how they interacted with their surroundings. The chrome of their surfaces made glittering reflections in rainwater puddles. The puff of their maneuvering jets quieted the noisy tree chirpers. And the beams of their lasers emitted the scorched scent of ozone. All these sights, sounds, and smells clued Rey and Finn into the remotes’ locations so they could stay one step ahead of them and their precisely timed shots. 

They also had another pursuer, a friendly one, who whined while struggling to keep pace. BB-8 was designed for starship maintenance and hyperspace navigation, not high speed chases through wild jungles. The uneven land and thick vegetation made travel challenging for a mechanical being that rolled rather than walked or flew. Still, using every gadget available to an astromech, BB-8 managed to stay within beeping distance. 

Finn told him to stay back at the base, but of course, BB-8 had refused. The droid was, above all else, stubbornly loyal. But the remotes weren’t going to quit because their helper lagged behind. They kept zapping at the two Jedis in training, their laser beams inflicting a nasty sting as their name implied. 

Finn snagged a branch that blocked his way, vaulted over it, and then snapped it back at the remotes. The branch smashed into the white remote and hurled it into the bushes. A beam from the blue remote singed the air over Rey’s head as she ducked and struck its green counterpart, causing the electronic device to fizzle and die. She took care of the blue remote by blowing on a fanged flower that she dashed past. Alerted by her breath, its petal mouth did the rest, snatching the orb from the air. 

When Finn and Rey came to the edge of a gorge, they didn’t pause to get their bearings. Following their teacher’s instructions, they picked up two old A-wing pilot helmets from a tree stump and jams it over their heads. They pulled the helmet’s blast shield over their eyes and stepped onto the tightrope bridge that spanned the gorge, igniting their very own lightsabers that they built. Finn’s blade was green and the hilt was made from alloy metal, dawning a flanged emitter and activation switch. Rey’s blade was magenta and her hilt was built of salvaged materials from her quarterstaff and a cloth handgrip, the emitter matrix having a rotating gear which opens upwards to display the plasma blade. 

The red remote whistled after the two. Blind as they might be with their eyes, they weren’t blind in the Force. They couldn’t see, but they knew where it was in connection with everything else and could anticipate its next moves. When it fired at them from behind, Finn batted away its shot with his lightsaber blade. When it moved in front, Rey did the same as they came to the end of the tightrope and jumped onto firm ground. Removing the helmets, they didn’t bother to glance back; they instantly went to work climbing two giant broadleaf trees. 

From upper branches, there fluttered pieces of red ribbon. Their goal. 

Finn launched himself up with a Force jump, slicing the ribbon loose and landed onto the ground, catching it in a quick grip. His eyes then peer over, seeing Rey making way for hers as the red remote swooped towards the girl. The red remote’s beam missed her and shredded the end of the ribbon instead, Rey snatching it and her botts thudded on the ground. 

Tucking the ribbon in her sash, she ran up onto a fallen log and jumped over the gorge while Finn dashed across the tightrope. BB-8 met up with them on the other side, speeding after and offering congratulatory beeps. 

They then stopped, their heels kicking up dirt and leaves. Hovering before Rey and Finn was the red remote, its maneuvering jets hissed at them. The blasted thing was tenacious, Finn had to give it that whereas Rey wanted to end the game. 

Before she could bring up her pink blade in front of her, the remote hit her in the shoulder with a stingbeam. She winced but the pain could have been worse, it was on the lowest setting and the red remote was toying with them. 

Finn took it on, the round of shots bouncing off his blade and were sent back at the remote. In each case, the remote dodged the bolts, but while it was tracking the deflected, it was tracking Rey as she tried to run past. A tightly focused stingbeam struck her before she realized it had been fired and Rey shuddered, not so much from pain but from frustration. She had to focus. 

Rey lunged at it but the remote evaded her attack, looping around her and unleashing more blasts. The majority of the shots she deflected but a couple got through. They stung and the pain didn’t fade away, the remote had increased the intensity of its beams. 

Rey swung widely at the remote, breaking into a sweat and breathing hard. Her magenta blade cut through tree after tree, toppling them without regard while the remote remained out of reach and pelted her with lasers. Each new hit stung more than the last and she was wearing out of energy. Seeing this, Finn intervened as the red remote soared up and around Rey. Activating his lightsaber, he waited and heard the high pitched whine of the remote that signified its next stingbeam would do more than just sting. He scans around the area and waits as the remotes fire, Finn blocks the beam, it surging up and directly into a thick branch. It comes tumbling down and smacks the remote, the device shattering on impact. 

Peering around, Rey saw the gigantic trees that had stood for centuries lay on the forest floor. The very life that had supported her in the Force had ended with her blade. Her actions mortified her, realizing that it would have been better to lose the remote than to do such grave harm to the jungle. She would return to her and Finn’s teacher not triumphant but ashamed. 

“You alright?” Finn gently places a tender hand on her shoulder and she looks straight into his dark brown eyes. 

She nods, her body aching all over. The past three days have been making her feel off, and she wondered what it possibly could be. The Resistance was safe and on a new base, Finn and her been training relentlessly, Poe was _finally_ dating Anya which took him long enough to speak up about asking her out. Leia was alive and well, and yet, something just seemed . . . wrong. 

A beep, muted and muffled, rescued her from her thoughts. BB-8 was caught under a fallen tree, his servomotors grinding in a futile attempt to escape. The poor thing. Her thoughtless rampage with the lightsaber had gotten him trapped beneath a tree and popped loose a panel, exposing his internal circuitry. 

She rushed over to him, Finn not that far behind. “BB-8, I’m so sorry.” As they pulled him out, he didn’t complain and together, the three of them returned back to camp. 

In the cave that housed the Resistance base, Rey had partitioned out a workshop where she and Finn could study, meditate, and tinker. She began gathering a few things up with Finn, them both pausing in the midst of their actions and Finn eyes Rey who frowns. A small woman who casts a large shadow stood behind them, and she maintained dress and decorum even in dank places like the jungle cave. Her greying hair was in a classic Alderaanian style and wore a stiff collared sea blue coat over royal purple robes. She didn’t appear bothered by the stuffy, sticky air that made Finn itch. And she was endowed with an intensity unlike anyone he, or even Rey, had ever met. 

“BB-8 says you’ve been stressed these past few days.” Leia spoke. “I’m listening to whatever needs to be said.” 

Rey looked around the cave. Life flourished in a variety of forms: roots drooped from the ceiling, fungi grew on the walls, worms crawled in the dirt where lizards scurried, and nothing was out of reach of the creeper vines. They had snaked themselves around the holo-consoles, the crates that doubled as tables and chairs, and the hull of the Tantive IV, a CR9O blockade runner that was parked inside the cave and provided a power source for the command center. 

Rey saw no easy way out of the conversation. She couldn’t ignore the woman who had done so much for her, spending her precious time teaching Rey and Finn what she knew of the Force and the Jedi. Many of Leia’s lessons came from her twin brother, Master Luke Skywalker himself, who had tutored his sister decades before. Though Leia’s life had diverged from becoming a Jedi, she had never closed herself off to the Force as her brother had. She allowed the Force to be a guiding hand in her decisions, she had told Rey and Finn, even though she seldom spoke to others about her gift. 

“I’m just not feeling myself . . .” The girl sighs, standing up and rotates herself to face Leia. She tried searching for the right words to end this. “I think I’m just tired, that’s all.” 

It was a poor excuse and Rey knew it. Yet before Leia could press further, Freya strode over to them. “General,”

Unlike Leia, Freya’s outfit was more suited for the jungle. She wore a light black jacket over beige drabs, as did many of their peers. Her dark brown hair had grown out a bit, now reaching her collarbones and it was wavy rather than straight. 

“We’re getting reports of First Order activity around Sinta. We don’t have confirmation yet since the Falcon is still in transit to the mining colony,” Freya said. “The commander’s asking for guidance.” 

Chewbacca, Poe, Anya, and Rose had taken the Millennium Falcon on a secret mission to Sinta Glacier Colony after the Resistance received an urgent request from one of its informants, a mining supervisor named Boolio. Rey hadn’t been keen on the idea of Poe flying the freighter. He might be the best pilot in the Resistance but with Han Solo gone, the Falcon had come under her and Chewbacca’s care. 

At least Chewie was with them as copilot. He’d look out for the Falcon. And Rey knew she shouldn’t be concerned about Poe when she had failed her own test in the jungle. Before she could criticize others, she needed to rectify her mistakes. 

“BB-8,” she speaks and the droid rolls over, beeping curiously. “Let’s get you fixed.”

That seemed to satisfy the astromech, him babbling in binary as Leia smiled at the two and headed after Freya. 

Rey turns and looks at Finn. “You coming to help?”

“Sure, be there in a sec.” He places a smile on his face as Rey heads off and once she’s out of sight, he frowns slightly and turns back to one of the Jedi texts that he’s been reading called Rammahgon. The very same one that he picked up inside the sacred tree of Ahch-To. 

_The Prime is One, but the Jedi are Many. The Sith were Many but often emerge Rule of Two. The Seeds of the Jedi have been Sown throughout the Galaxy, on Ossus, Jedha, Xenxiar, and Others. The Sith have no Seeds, since what they bury does not grow. They are the Despoilers of Worlds, and have laid to waste fertile habitats such as Korriban, Ziost, Ixigul, Asog, and Others._

Finn furrowed his brows and thought for a moment, staring at Rey’s back, seeing her white capelet blowing behind her as she fastly walked to keep up with the rolling droid. Something did feel off, but unlike Rey, it didn’t bother him so much to the point of making errors. Whatever it was, he sensed it too. He opened himself up more to the Force, allowing it to lead his awareness and make himself acceptable to everything that surrounded him. 

His bond with Rey got stronger through their rigorous training, he was able to sense whenever her mood changed, if she needed help, or heck, even when she was hungry. But he was also able to hear her thoughts, see her memories if she thought about them—which was very often. Mostly of her parents flying away from her and Nova on Jakku and them both screaming while in the clutches of Unkar Plutt. So Finn was doing his damn hardest to try and figure out why this was happening right at this second. 

Finally it dawned on him. Three days ago, Rey tried to contact Nova through the Force but she never received anything back from her. And today, when Poe, Chewbacca, Anya, and Rose left on the Falcon to get information about something big that was happening, the sensation of something being weary grew beyond containment. Whatever Rey was picking up on and that began affecting Finn, it stems to the First Order but more importantly, to Nova. 

Nova kept on eyeing the Sith Wayfinder, its haunting glow seemingly in rhythm with her breathing and BD-1 trills, turning her attention away from the ancient artifact. The small droid was running around the halls of the Steadfast, scanning every little thing that he found fascinating including General Armitage Hux. He covered his eyes, BD’s sensor displaying a bright blue light in his face. 

“Nova, please if you don’t mind, tell your pesky friend that he can scan something else that isn’t in a rush to get things moving along.” 

“Armie, you have your whole life to be a jerk. Why not just take today off?” She smiles and Hux eyes her, shaking his head in annoyance but secretly, he was amused. “He’s just curious, nothing wrong with that.” 

“Until he wanders in the broken droid room and sees all the mechanical pieces, which I imagine to a droid would be the equivalent of seeing body parts all around the premises.” 

BD-1 then looks up at Nova and he may have not had facial expressions but she could tell that he was scared by what General Hux said. Smiling politely at the droid, she lets him know that she’d never let anything happen to him. 

Armitage then clears his throat. “The wayfinder, you found it?” 

Nova motions inside the room, pointing out the triangular shape to him. “Right there.” 

“Where’s Ren?” Hux asks, not really caring as he picks up the relic and examines it in the light. “And his personal boy band?” 

“Ben went into his chambers and the Knights are down in the cafeteria getting something to eat, and they’re probably getting gawked at by Stormtroopers who heard of their legendary story of being ruthless warriors of the Dark Side.” 

Hux sets the wayfinder down, dusting off his gloved fingers and turns on his heel, facing her and the BD unit. She told him all about their journey of the different planets and her run in at Bogando with the three Zabraks, and how she came to find the adventure droid. Even told him about her cuff and how it was lost to the planet, to never be recovered. He felt sad for Nova, she certainly did become a part of his family. Armitage watched her grow into the young woman that stood before him and as much as he wanted to take credit for it, he knew that it wasn’t him who allowed her to bloom like that. It’d been something else. Not Kylo, not the Force, but something. 

“You should shower up,” he says, seeing her tarnished clothes, mud that dried out on her face, and blotches of rotten Mustafarian earth grinded into the strands of her hair. 

Nova nods and turns, heading straight for the turbolift to take her to her quarters and BD-1 trekked behind, beeping a few questions and she answered. 

In her room, BD-1 was roaming around and scanning everything within radius of him to learn more about Nova and her way of life. She on the other hand was feeling the warm water pummeling her soft skin as she rubbed soap all over her hands, torso, legs, feets, hands, arms, back, and lastly her face. All the remnants of Mustafar circle around and around, slipping down into the drain. For a moment, Nova glances down at her scarred arms and quickly closes her eyes and tilts her head back into the spout, allowing the water to cleanse her of hardships and swirling thoughts that clouded her head. 

Getting out and changing into a dark grey tunic and cotton pants, Nova spotted BD-1 scanning her First Order hat and he trills, puzzled at what the logo meant. She sits down onto her bed with her canteen, taking a sip of her water, setting it down and begins to brush the ends of her damp hair. 

“You have no clue what the First Order is, do you BD?” 

He beeps and turns, flying over and lands at her feet, staring up at her. 

“It’s like the Empire . . rebuilt . . . for a newer generation. I guess that’s how to explain it.” Pausing with her brushing, she slips down off the bed and sits before BD-1, propping up her knees and rests her elbows on them. “But that’s where we are. With the First Order.” 

Nova then grows quiet, holding her fingers and waiting for a response but he says nothing which makes her head hang low. Instead, his eyes linger to her bare forearms, seeing the pink and white healed over scars. A few curious beep-boops from him and she automatically knew what he was asking: _What happened to you?_

“It wasn’t always like this,” Nova softly tells him and chews on the inside of her cheek. “I had a family. Parents and a sister, named Rey. My sister and I . . . our parents left us on a desert planet called Jakku, and then they died. It was just us for a while, and one day, I was taken from her. I remember not being scared for me, but for Rey. I taught her everything I knew in my young age: what ships to search through for medical kits, what parts to take that’d be worth selling for supplies and food. Even salvaged an old quarterstaff from a wreckage that I used as a weapon to keep us safe from creatures and the riffraffs.” 

A small smile creeps upon her lips, making her remember how she used to poke away steelpeckers whenever she was searching for metal and alloys to create makeshift plates and bowls and silverware for her and Rey. 

She continues. “I gave the staff to her that day as I wandered off, trying to find us more portions packs that were hidden in a bag on an old Star Destroyer. Just like that”—Nova snaps her fingers and BD-1 intriguely peers to her left hand, taking a small step forwards—“the sandy ground escaped the bottom of my feet and I was being taken away.” 

BD-1 beeps: _Where’d you go?_

“All over. Nag Ubdur, Hoth, Mandalore, Nar Shaddaa, Kamino, Ryloth: everywhere.” A short pause. “I was alone for the longest time. Without any . . . purpose. Just foraging. It wasn’t supposed to be a way to live for a kid. When Supreme Leader Snoke told me that I’d join the First Order and can finally stop living how I was, I took it.” 

A somber woop-weep came from BD-1. _What about your sister?_

“I hoped she was still alive, and still on Jakku . . . I tried to go back everytime, I wanted to but fear got in the way. I was scared that she’d be dead, that our parents came back and took her, or she just wasn’t there and was traded off like how I was. Eventually, I . . . I stopped.” Nova cringes, admitting that little secret out loud was harder than expected. It was hidden deep behind her mental block, shutting it out along with other things as a coping mechanism but talking with the BD unit just felt so congenial. “I knew I had to live for me, for what I lost—or at least try to. I’m still struggling with it, BD. It’s why I wear gauze to hide these.” 

She moves her arms by shrugging her shoulders and BD-1 looks at them once again, beeping tentatively. 

“In order to move on, you have to accept all of it.” Her arms snake away from her kneecaps, resting into her lap as her legs slip to the floor and she frowns. “I can’t.” With drifting thoughts, she pondered, “Maybe that’s why the nightmares are coming back . . .” 

Nova stands up, heading to the closet and digs out the First Order jacket that Elsie gave her after Starkiller Base and puts it on. She stands for a moment, basking in the favor of her arms behind covered and out of sight.BD-1 trills and she’s brought out of her reflection, watching as he scanned her lightsaber, mentioning how the kyber crystal came from Ilum. 

“You know about Ilum?” 

Another beep-woop.

Nova takes a moment to register what he just said. “You been to Ilum?” 

He nods his little head, flying up onto her bed so he didn’t have to crane his mechanical neck up at her too much. The softness of her bed sheets captures his attention, him fondling with the fabric under his robotic feet then returning to stare at Nova. 

“You’re just full of surprises,” the corner of her lips curl upwards as she makes her way back to the bed, getting in under the covers and BD-1 heads up on the other side. He sits down, curling up and seems to enter a rest mode like how he had on the Night Buzzard. Turning over and shutting out the lights, Nova closes her eyes and drifts off into sleep. 

An hour or two passed at most when Nova woke up once again, feeling as if she was struggling with getting shuteye. Every attempt to go back to sleep resulted in her stomach twisting like she was going to miss something important by going back to sleep, causing her to roll onto her back and stare up at the ceiling. BD-1 was still next to her, nonmoving but the lights on the back of his head dimmed then brightened in a pattern, a physical display of his breathing she supposed. She took her own even breaths and shortly, her eyelids began to droop downwards. 

Suddenly that feeling creeps in and she flutters her eyes open, finally understanding what it was. _Ben._ Nova gets up, sneaking out of her corridors and heading straight for his room, being lured there from their bond. Just like a fish on the end of a wire, being reeled in to the source that it was being drawn to. 

Inside of his white chambers, Nova roams around seeing his living and dining area, and his work area which included a few tables, one which had the Sith Wayfinder resting on it, and an obsidian pedestal which held a molten and ashed mask of his late grandfather, Darth Vader. She never saw it before and the near sight of it made her head go fuzzy, having her step away from the doorframe of the room. Making it to a door, Nova opens it and sees Kylo laying in bed, him adjusting his position and grumbling in his sleep repeatedly. 

Letting her mind tiptoe on the line of her connection with Kylo, Nova tries to get a feel for what he was dreaming about. She didn’t want to intrude but she was curious, searching for anything but their connection felt off. Like something was wrong and it made her feel vacant, a feeling that she had almost forgotten. Nova lingers, adding more of herself to the Force and focuses intensely. 

Her surroundings shifted to a large, dark chamber. Before Nova was a wound of spikes resembling an enormous Jakku sand urch. A cloaked figure sat on a throne in the center of the spikes. She couldn’t tell who it was. But there was a familiarity in it. 

Memories intruded. The first was one from her worst nightmare, of the time as a child when she had watched her parents’ starship launch from the desert sands, forever abandoning her and Rey on Jakku. Yet she also remembered a moment she’d never remembered before and found herself locked in the warm embrace of her mother. She would have stayed in that moment forever, but it switched to when she stood on the Supremacy and Kylo extended his hand to her. 

**_Join me . . ._** The voice wasn’t Kylo’s. It was deeper than his and rasped, as if whoever spoke struggled to breathe. 

Luke Skywalker came to her next, standing on an island cliff in brown robes. _Ben, no!_ He shouts in an echo.

After him there was Han Solo, standing before his son. **_You killed him._ ** The red lightsaber plunges into his chest, Han’s body going limp as it was struck forcibly. 

**_Ben!_ ** Han’s voice rings out over him touching Kylo’s face on the bridge of the oscillator, a small notion to let him know that he forgave him before his body falls into the pit below. And then she was thrown back into the dark chamber. Dim lighting gave definition to the hooded figure on the throne and—

Nova pulls out from the vision and away from Kylo’s sleeping body, staring down at him as a chill snuck up her spine, making her cross her arms in front of her chest. She holds herself, trying to warm herself up and retreats from his bedroom, walking backwards. The images were playing on a loop in her head, especially the one of her mother hugging her tight and Nova felt tears coming to her eyes. She leaves Kylo’s quarters straight away, and heads straight for the place that helped her sort things out in times like this. 

When BD-1 realized that Nova was gone, he panicked. He would run and fly a short amount of distances, scanning every area just to detect her heat signatures. By random chance, he bumps into Elsie and she studies him for a moment, a tender and compassionate smile places itself on her lips. She bends down, offering out her hand to the BD unit. 

“Well hello, I’m LC6D but am also called Elsie for short. Do you need any assistance?” 

A beep and a boop from the small unit took Elsie a moment to register his binary and once she understood, she got back up and used her own detectors that Kylo programmed her with. 

“She’s in the training room. I can take you to her, if you’d like.” 

A trill which translated into a “yes” from the BD unit had Elsie nod and begin leading the way towards the area. It wasn’t a short trip but it wasn’t a long either, roughly fifteen minutes of walking distance. Nonetheless, Elsie had been correct. 

Entering the area showed Nova fighting off ten holoprojections. She parries, stabs, and evades with an electro-bisento, moving quickly with the use of the Force and taking one after another out. One man tried to shoot her with an energy bow but she dodged, throwing out her left hand and the man’s body lifted off the ground and flew straight towards her. Once he got within an arm’s reach of herself, Nova thrust her weapon into his stomach, the projection pixeling out. BD-1 recognized the fighting technique, it had been one that his former companion used a lot during their journeys against the Empire and it triggered something inside of him which caused him to trill. 

Nova looks over, as she takes out her last contender and sees the cyborg and the exploration droid. She pants, nodding to them and hears something. Turning back, two new holographic projections came to life and these projections were in a faded green display which was something that she had never seen before—simulation fighters were always in golden hues, not green. But what really shocked her was that she only set the training course for ten opponents, not twelve. And on top of that they wielded lightsabers, not energy bows, blasters, polearms, vibro-voulges, electro-chain whips, or even vibro-arbir blades. 

“ _Elsie,_ ” Nova speaks up to her in a weary tone and the cyborg went rigid, acknowledging her fear. “Shut off the simulation. Please.” 

Moving fast, she reached the panel, hand lingering over the button but the one female projection who was a Dowutin threw her lightsaber over at Elsie and in a quick motion, cut off her cybernetic arm. Nova’s eyes went wide, knowing that the interactive weapons should very well be harmless to real living beings, just only sting. Not actually be lethal. The lightsaber flies directly back into the woman’s hand, her massive size made Nova bask in her shadow, the horns on her chin were pointed, sharpened. She snarls directly at the young girl who was only armed with her electro-bisento. 

Nova then studies the other attacker, a tall, slender human female. Her eyes were a blue-green, hair black, skin light brown. Her presence gave off something that startled Nova to her core, like an echo in the Force and she backs away from the woman, trying to keep distance as she holds the bisento with two hands, pointing the vibro blade at them. 

The woman uses the Dark Side of the Force to learn about her. “Nova Hux, or so they call you in the First Order.” 

She stalks around her like a hungry wolf and Nova keeps her eyes on her, often glancing back to the Dowutin. She feared the woman more than she did her, but you could never be too sure of things. Nova knew that more than anything. 

“A twenty-four year old scavenger from Jakku, who’s about to have a birthday in a few weeks. Here’s your congratulatory celebration on surviving for twenty-five years, but you know, there are some things far more frightening than death.” 

Nova goes to swing with her bisento but the woman blocks it with her red spinning lightsaber, throwing Nova off with the help of the Force and she flies backwards, hitting onto her back. Staggering onto her feet, Nova calls the bisento and it flies back into her hand, readying a fighting stance. 

“You remind me of a Padawan that I was hunting down from years ago,” she sneers and Nova instantly catches onto who the mysterious yet pally woman was. 

“Second Sister . . .” 

“In the flesh.” 

“You’re not real.” Nova defends. “You’re dead.” 

“So sure, are you?” The Second Sister asks and continues to roam around Nova, eyeing her like a hawk. “Ninth Sister just so happened to cut off your cyborg’s hand despite you knowing that a mere training exercise of holographic projections shouldn’t be able to do such a thing, and yet, you still choose to believe that we’re not real? Fine by us, it’ll just make this thing a whole lot easier.” 

She pounces for an attack and Nova blocks but Second Sister had already planned on it, she quickly changes at the last second and her red blade whips around to Nova’s right side in a fluid motion. Nova makes a last minute deflect but not before the long dead inquisitor burns the side of her face, making her howl out in pain and stumbling back away. Nova breathes heavily through clenched teeth, her left hand cradling the wounded area that ran across her jaw and underneath her ear. It stung angrily and it took everything in her to remove her hand and grip the bisento again, eyeing the Second Sister. 

“You have no hate, no anger, I’m impressed. After all you’ve been through, you still maintain to be kind and to play fair. Why? Do you believe it makes you feel more superior to those who can’t?” 

“I’m not going to let you manipulate me.” Nova goes for an attack, trying to stab the holographic projection but Second Sister is faster, blocking and smacking down onto the bisento’s blade and Nova thrusts upwards powerfully. 

The lightsaber is knocked from Second Sister’s hand and as Nova tries to strike, she is Force pushed back and lands in the grasp of the Ninth Sister, releasing her weapon. She hangs there for a moment, her brain lacking concentration and her body growing weak as her eyes begin closing, shutting out the world around her. 

When Nova opens her eyes again, she’s not in the training center or even in the Star Destroyer. She’s in a random shipyard that was dim and bleak, but cozy and homey. Ahead of her, she swears that she sees BD-1 running through tents that were set up and she follows like observing her surrounding area. She could see a moon high in the dark blue sky, guiding her path and she trusted it, staying it’s light to take her wherever she needed to be. 

BD-1 makes a left and she does the same, stopping just as a high speed transport train rushes past her and makes her hair blow back from the winds it produced. On the other side of the platform, she sees a silhouette of a figure and they extend their hand out of her, raising her up off her feet. 

**_Nova,_** the voice belonged to man, it was humble and soft, much like her own. He tells her, **_Trust only in the Force._**

Back in the hand of the Ninth Sister, Nova comes too and grabs behind her to find the woman’s hand. Swinging her feet, the young girl flips over with the help of the Force and lands behind the Ninth Sister. She raises out her hand, calling on her lightsaber which was far across the ship but she believed in it. The black hilt smacks directly into her left palm and the red blade ignites as she double hands it and begins to fight with an overhead strike. 

The Ninth Sister was the one to resume battle, blocking Nova’s saber with her own and Force pushed her back. Nova stands ground this time, sliding backwards which makes her boots squeak against the flooring. Ninth Sister then jumps, her lightsaber ready to stab down on Nova but she uses the Force to slow her down, moving out on the way as she lands and slashes at her back. Once the slow wares off, Ninth Sister snarls and from right to left she bats her lightsaber but Nova avoids the hits, stabbing her up into the shoulder. 

Angrily she Force pushes Nova when the girl was doing the same to her, the both of them flying backwards; Ninth Sister stuck the landing straight but Nova, not so much. Her landing was perfect but as she tried to correct herself, her one heel gave out and went falling onto her back. She recovered quickly, standing in no time to eye the Ninth Sister touching where she was wounded. 

“Not bad for trash.” She comments, her beady eyes targeting Nova as she displays her secondary blade and runs for her. 

Nova centers herself and charges, the Ninth Sister swinging low at her midsection but Nova slid under her dual lightsaber, avoiding it. She brings her lightsaber up and over her head as the Ninth Sister brings back her blade to try and behead Nova, throwing hers off and standing. Double handling the lightsaber, the Ninth Sister brings her down directly on Nova but she blocks it with hers, red on red, clashing and spitting sparks. The woman presses harder on her blade and it grinds against Nova’s, causing her arms to shake but she holds it, trusting in herself and in the Force. 

She tilts back her lightsaber and limbos under the Dowutin as she fumbles forwards and Nova launches more attacks, the Ninth Sister blocking them all. Nova is suddenly yanked forwards with the Force, evading a lightsaber strike to the face by bending back and flipping herself over. She stands, Force pushing the Ninth Sister away from her but she advances again, determined to strike the young scavenger. Her lightsaber swings around ferociously as the mechanics of an Inquisitor handle allows it to do so and Nova dives out of the way, disabling her lightsaber to roll. 

Trying to get back up onto her feet, Ninth Sister Force dashes over and brings her lightsaber up and over her head again to strike down on Nova. She moves as fast as she could possibly manage, placing up her blade and blocking, her arms shaking once again as she holds off the stronger and massive opponent. This time, the Ninth Sister held greater advantage since Nova was down on her knees and was in the midst of standing. Her legs were crouched slightly and her arms struggled to press against the woman, to try and Nova space to completely straighten out her legs. An elusive idea came to her but she had only shot to do it right and it would take every last bit of her energy to do so. 

Nova juts out her chin, the Ninth Sister being shoved back a few meters as her arms are given a mere secondal break and her kneecaps lock in place. Bringing down the red blade again, Nova blocks, sparks spitting with the clash and this time she allows the creature’s blade inch closer and closer to her face. And once the Nova’s blade slid down towards the Ninth Sister’s emitter, she twirls harshly which knocks the blade back, putting up her foot as she spun and leaps off the other. Her lightsaber swings under her body as she flips in the air, cutting off the sister’s right hand that wielded her own weapon, sticking the landing. Slowly, the Ninth Sister fades out—not pixel, but fades into a green smoke as if she were some form of magick being on Dathomir. 

“You think it’s over?” The Second Sister speaks and Nova almost completely forgot that she was there. “No, I’m afraid it’ll never be over.” 

With the help of the Force dash, she clashes against Nova’s blade in a matter of seconds. They bat back and forth, equal blocks and blows being exchanged. Each could predict one another’s next moves which put up as an even yet extremely exhausting match, that was until the Second Second got Nova into a hold where their lightsabers were locked in place. 

Her eyes inspect the girl and she chuckles, grinning from ear to ear. “What parent gave their life so that you might live?” 

Nova shoots a look at her, staring into those eyes of hers and automatically knows that she wasn’t lying with the statement. Her parents had died, Nova knew that much but— _gave_ _up_ their life? That was entirely new information. How did this woman know? How could she possibly gather all this information for being someone that’s long dead and gone? 

“Don’t you want to know what everyone is hiding from you?” She presses harder onto Nova’s lightsaber, the crackling getting louder and the hilts shaking with vibrations. The Second Sister searches deeper within Nova’s mind, hitting that mental block, the very same one that intrigued Kylo whenever he was teaching her to block him out of her mind. She snickers. “ _Oh,_ you’re hiding it from yourself.” 

“Stop it.” Nova whimpers. 

“What exactly is hidden in there, Nova?” 

She presses harder and Nova’s one knee gives out, her bending down. “Please.” 

“Let’s take a look.” 

Nova returned to the memory that she saw in Kylo’s nightmare—or was it actually in her hidden depths of truths? She was a young girl, clutched in a tight embrace by a young woman in a blue shawl. They were in a tent that smelled of Jakku. The woman’s shawl fell back, and Nova saw her mother’s auburn hair being worn in three buns and her pinched face with tears lingering down her cheeks.

“Nova, you’re going to have to be brave,” her mother said. She wouldn’t let Nova go and Nova wouldn’t let her go, either. “Protect your sister, she’s going to need you.” 

A young man ducked into the tent with a little girl whose hair was in the same style as her mother. He had the scruff of a brown beard, sad blue eyes, and dirty blonde hair that was tousled. He touched Nova’s cheeks. “I may not be your father, but it was an honor to raise you as my own.” His lips are then pressed to her small head for a moment. “You’ll be safe here, I promise.” 

His eyes flamed into the two rear thrusters of a transport. Rey screamed, trying to free herself from Unkar Plutt but Nova holds her back and securely, as Unkar shushes them to be quiet. The two sisters, the half sister, watched the ship rocket off Jakku. 

Nova pulled away from the memory and she also pulled apart their lightsaber, propelling the Second Sister back. But Second Sister was undeterred. “Your mother and step father sold you off to protect you and your sister.” 

“Stop . . .” She felt the need to cry, feeling helpless and small, having more questions. She just wanted this to be over. 

The Second Sister kept the hits coming, Nova blocking them poorly and her lightsaber gets knocked out of her grip as she falls onto her back. The inquisitor raises her lightsaber up high in the sky, Nova shutting her eyes tight as a tear escapes and the sister brings down her blade swiftly. 

There was no hit, no kill. The holographic Second Sister billows into a cloud of smoke and Nova opens her eyes, seeing BD-1 over on the simulation panel. He had sliced the control board and turned off the projections, possibly saving her own life. He trills in victory but Nova just sat up on her knees, crying out loudly. She covers her mouth to try and muffle her sobs but nothing could quiet the heartbreak that she was experiencing. The shockwaves of it carried out throughout the Force, and it notified Kylo Ren. 


	25. Wayfinder

Poe leans forwards, looking for any telltale sign of Chewbacca’s next move. As a species, Wookies were quite demonstrative with their emotions but when it came to playing holochess, he seemed unreadable. 

The three dimensional creatures flickered on the Millennium Falcon’s game board, they were standing still, waiting to be commanded to play a move. Several minutes had passed since Poe and Anya took their very own turn, and Poe shifted in the wraparound lounge seats, leaning toward Chewbacca. “Are you ever going to go?” 

Chewbacca glanced at Poe, then returned to examining the board, refusing to be rushed. 

“He can’t beat us every time,” Anya said to Poe, in a conspiratorial whisper meant for the Wookie to hear. But it didn’t distract him. It confounded Anya that Chewbacca could focus so intensely on the pieces and yet abandon all self control when he lost his temper. 

“And yet, he does.” 

Anya furrowed her brows. “How does he do it?” 

“This guy, right here?” Poe asks, pointing at Chewbacca. “It’s because he cheats.” 

This provoked a defensive roar from the Wookie.

Poe cracked a smile. “I’m kidding! You’re two hundred and fifty years old. Of course you’re better than us!” 

Anya spoke over her boyfriend, laughing. “Take your turn, Chew Chew. You’re taking forever, that’s why we think you’re cheating.” 

The autopilot chimed that they were nearing the Sinta Glacier Colony. Chewbacca rose from the board, growling at the two of them. 

“Don’t worry,” Anya said, waving her hands as if to calm the hairy beast down. 

“We’re not going to turn it off,” Poe added. 

After the Wookie thumped out of the lounge, Anya glanced at Poe. “He’s cheating.” 

“Definitely,” Poe touched a button on the holochess table, the pieces disappearing. 

The two went out into the main corridor, seeing Rose bending down toward a sparking panel. She was mechanically minded the whole trip, making repairs around the ship. With a few twists and turns, and cranks of her tools, Rose was filled with relief. 

She looks up, seeing Poe and smiles. “Fixed the surge.” 

“Knew you would.” He grins, joining Chewbacca in the cockpit. 

Anya hurried down the portside corridor, tapping the dome of R2-D2, the blue and white astromech who had also come on the mission. The droid decoupled from a charging station and followed her. 

A clank echoed from the Falcon’s hull. “We’re docked, An!” Poe said over the ship’s intercom. 

Anya hit the control panel on the corridor wall. The hatch above opened. A scaly green face with two curved horns protruding from the skull and a smaller pair poking from the chin smiled down at her. 

“Boolio, good to see you,” Anya speaks up. “You got something for us?” 

“From a new ally—a spy in the First Order,” the Ovissian states. 

His statement hit Anya like a stunbolt. “A spy? Who?” 

“I don’t know. Transfer the message. Give it to Leia.” Boolio dangled a cable through the portal. “Hurry!” 

Anya took the cable and attached it to R2-D2’s socket. “This is going to be huge.” 

The astromech chirped that he had a connection and then proximity alarms rang throughout the ship. “An, we’re about to be cooked!” Poe yelled. 

Anya watched the droid’s indicator lights. “Almost there!” 

Right as R2-D2 tootled that the download was complete, Anya yanked out the cable and threw it back up at Boolio. “How do we thank you?” 

“Win the war!” Boolio shouted, and then the hatch shut, sealing him off. 

Enemy fire shook the Falcon, Anya snatched a tangle of wiring to steady herself. “Rose, we need a gunner!” Poe said on the intercom. 

“On it!” Rose ran back through the lounge into the starboard corridor. A quick scramble down the access ladder, passing a few Porgs on the way and she was in the underside turret, strapping herself into the seat. The bubbled topped structure of the Sinta Glacier Colony in the canopy, a view obstructed by a squadron of First Order TIE fighters. 

Rose put on the headset and grabbed the twin firing grips. A group of flat-winged TIEs were hot on their tail as the Falcon raced through the frozen tunnels of a megacomet. The TIEs unleashed their lasers, and one salvo struck the Falcon’s rear deflector, rocking the ship. Rose fired off a salvo of her own, blasting only ice from the tunnel wall. 

She kept her eyes on the targeting computer and squared the TIE fighter in its sight. The second it acquired a lock, she pulled the trigger. The Falcon’s lasers turned the TIE into a ball of flame. “Got one!”

“How many are left?” Poe’s voice popped into her headset. 

“Too many,” Rose said. She spun in the turret, tracking the closest TIE. It swerved right and left while the tunnel walls showed machinery embedded in the ice. They were nearing the giant drills the local mining company used to extract precious minerals from the comet. 

“What?” Poe asked and Chewbacca barked something that seemed to improve his mood. “Good thinking, Chewie! Rose, we can boulder these TIEs!” 

Rose flipped switches to divert more power to the cannons. “Alright, Captain Dameron. Give me that shot.” 

Instantly, the Falcon flipped on its axis and spun Rose upside down in the turret. She re-swallowed some of her breakfast rations and fired at the mining drill ahead. It wasn’t a moving target, so her shots struck without a hitch. Chunks of machinery fell into the chasing TIEs, turning them into scrap as the Falcon made it’s escape.

Rose whooped. “Get us back to the base!” 

She unbuckled from the gunner’s seat and climbed up the ladder as the Falcon straightened itself out. Several moments later, she was in the cockpit standing next to Anya, all her cheer gone. 

Four new TIEs were coming from the front but Poe jerked the freighter down another path and onto a collision course with the ice wall of the megacomet. “How thick do you think that ice wall is?” 

Chewbacca howled, and Poe pulled a lever on the control board. The ice shattered before them into the straight lines of hyperspace. 

The ship shuddered. Rose bounced into Anya, Anya bounced into Chewie, and Chewie kept howling while Poe kept his hand on the lever. Seconds later, the Falcon emerged in a colossal forest of translucent stalagmites, which Anya recognized from holo-adventures to be the legendary Crystal Chaos of Cardovyte. Some of the TIEs came out of lightspeed not far behind them. 

Anya noticed Poe keying a new set of coordinates into the navicomputer. “Are you going to lightspeed skip?” 

He glances over his shoulder at her for a moment, regret in his dark brown eyes. “It’s our only way to lose these guys.” 

They jumped into a region of space packed with kilometer high reflective spires that formed the architectures of the famous mirror city of Ivexia. Poe corkscrewed the Falcon around the buildings, dodging blasts from the TIEs that continued to pursue them. 

Anya held on to the bulkhead. “Should’ve never taught you how to do this . . .” She murmured as Poe keyed more coordinates and pulled the lever a third time. 

The navicomputer sent them to another wonder of the galaxy, an interstellar cloud of glowing green gases known as the Typhonic Nebula. There was no time to admire what few ever saw. Rose cried out as the three toothed maw of a giant space worm opened to ingest them. 

“Last jump, maybe forever! Hold on!” Poe pulled the hyperspace lever again just before the Falcon would have been devoured. Anya knew the Falcon’s hyperdrive could blow at any time when put under such tremendous stress. 

As the streaks of hyperspace filled the canopy, the TIEs crashed into the worm’s mouth as it dove right back down towards the ground which released a puff of that vivid green smoke high up into the air. 

Moving past a few green leaves that were in her way, Freya headed over and into the cave, reaching Finn and Rey’s workbench. “The Falcon’s back, you two!” She calls out, knowing that the two been waiting for the arrival of their friends. 

Finn placed the journal that he was reading down and Rey sat aside the Skywalker lightsaber that she was fixing up, both following Freya as BB-8 and a host of others came out of the cave and into the clearing. Rumors were circulating that the mission to Sinta would reveal that there was a spy within the First Order. 

The Millennium Falcon always appeared to be one flight away from the junkyard. But as it landed, the freighter looked like it had already been there. Scorch marks discolored its exterior, hull plates were gone, conduits and wiring were exposed. Smoke spumed out from the engines, compressors, alternators, and even the landing gear. 

Poe was the first down the Falcon’s ramp. “Whole thing’s on fire! All of it!” 

Anya and Rose were next and Finn rushed over to them, seeing if they were alright and what had happened. 

Rey calls out to Poe. “Hey,” 

The dark haired pilot peers up to her, smiling lightly as he walks over. “Hey!” 

“How’d it go?” 

“Really bad, actually. Really bad.” Poe turned to BB-8 who had rolled up to him and cheeped. The droid still was missing a panel on his body after it was knocked loose when the tree fell on him. “What’d you do to the droid?” 

Rey stares down at the droid then back to the ship. “What’d you do to the Falcon?” 

“The Falcon’s in a lot better shape than he is.” 

“BB-8’s not on fire. The whole—” 

“What’s left of him isn’t on fire,” Poe retorted. 

Rey shook her head. “Tell me what happened.” 

“You tell me first,” Poe demands in a light tone. 

BB-8 rotated his dome back and forth between them. Rey playfully narrowed her eyes at Poe, smiling. “You know what you are?” 

“What?”

“You’re difficult. Really difficult.” She states. “You’re a difficult man.” 

“You are . . .” Poe faulted with his words, biting his bottom lip and groaning. He kneels down before BB-8, head in hands and takes a deep breath as the girls and Finn join them. 

Anya was the first to try and explain what happened but Chewbacca emerged from the hatch, grumbling about the Falcon. Rey spun back to Poe. “You lightspeed skipped?” 

Finn glances over and down at Poe and BB-8, the droid telling him about the incident with the tree. The man stood and turned on Rey, clearly as exasperated as she was. “You dropped a tree on him,” he said, indicating BB-8. 

“Poe, the compressor’s down—” 

“I know, I was there,” he shot back. “But there was no other choice in the moment. I had to do it, Rey. Otherwise, we would’ve been debris out in space.” 

The girl calmed down a bit, Rey understood that Poe was telling the truth with the looks that appeared on Anya and Rose’s faces. They were sincere and filled with grief. They understood what the vessel meant to everyone in the Resistance and to Leia, putting it in that type of distress was their only chance at survival. 

Excusing himself, Poe waved down Aftab Ackbar for him to get R2-D2’s data transferred and into reconditioning.

“If it’s any use,” Anya tenderly speaks. “There is a mole in the First Order. They sent us a message.” 

Rey let out a breath. “What’s the message?” 

An hour had passed at most when Poe called for a briefing. Everyone gathered in the command center, near the Tantive IV, the pilot was standing in front of the crowd, dead in center with C-3PO, R2-D2, and BB-8 surrounding him. 

“We’ve decoded the intel from the First Order spy and it confirms the worst.” He allowed a moment to pass, him trying to process the news himself. “Somehow, Palpatine has returned.” 

Many in the Resistance had doubted the message’s authenticity, surmising it was a First Order scheme to scare rebellious systems. But this message, from a spy within the First Order, seemed to quash those doubts. 

“Are we sure we can believe this?” Freya spoke up. 

“It cannot be. The Emperor is dead.” Aftab states, standing next to Finn. “He was killed aboard the second Death Star.” 

Beaumont Kin, a short, bearded man who had been a professor before joining the Resistance, offered an explanation. “There are historical accounts of techniques that were meant to subvert physical death. Dark science . . . Cloning. Secrets only the Sith knew.”

The mere mention of the Sith sent a chill down Finn’s spine. The Sith were supposed to be extinct, like their enemies, the Jedi. But that was his Stormtrooper training talking. Ever since he’d left the First Order, he had discovered most of what he’d been taught was a lie. Luke Skywalker was real, the Jedi were real, the Force was real, which meant, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, the Sith had to be real.

“So the Emperor did die,” Anya said, “but something came back.” 

Poe continued. “He’s been planning his revenge. His followers have been building something for years. The largest fleet the galaxy has ever known. He calls it the Final Order. In sixteen hours, attacks on all free worlds begin.” 

Dread descended on the group like a cloud. Finn peers over at Rey, seeing her lips parted slightly, her body stiff and her mind searching for anything that could help them in a time like this. 

“The Emperor and his fleet have been hiding in the Unknown Regions. On a world called Exegol.” Poe adds. Both Finn and Rey furrowed their brows, they knew of it because of one person in particular. The very person that Rey has been trying to connect to and the same one that Finn has been having dreams of in retrospect of experiencing someone else’s dreams. 

“Never heard of Exegol,” said Major Wexley, nicknamed Snap for his nervous habit of snapping his fingers. 

Lieutenant Connix did a quick check on her datapad. “It’s not on our star charts.” 

“It’s not on any star chart,” said Maz Kanata. She’d joined the Resistance recently and served as an informal adviser to Leia. “Exegol is hidden, a world kept secrets by generations of Sith Lords.” 

Snap grumbled, “How can we attack a place we can’t find?” 

General Organa remained composed and collected, as always. “Friends, this is the moment that counts. Everything we’ve fought for is at stake.” 

Beaumont Kin brought home the general’s words. “If this fleet launches, freedom dies in the galaxy.” 

The preparations for the mission began immediately, but Finn slipped out of the command center and Rey went after. 

He sat down at the workbench and picked up the book that he was reading earlier, Rammahgon. He was reading so fast that he nearly missed it. 

_The Sith have no Seeds, since what they bury does not grow. They are the Despoilers of Worlds, and have laid to waste fertile habitats such as Korriban, Ziost, Ixigul—_

There it was. Ixigul. He just knew it had to be an alternative spelling of Exegol. And in the margin of the same page Luke Skywalker had made annotations in a secret code. 

A cough behind him made him turn in his chair. Rey stood besides her tool caddy. “How long have you been there?” 

“About as long as you’ve been in here,” she said. 

“I didn’t even know,” Finn said. He’d been so absorbed in his reading. “Look at this, a clue to the planet.” 

“Exegol?” 

He gestured Rey over to the bench. “The Jedi had been trying to find it for a generation. Skywalker was searching for it with an ally, but the trail went cold.” 

“Who’s the ally?” 

Finn glanced at the page. “He doesn’t say.” 

Rey leaned over his shoulder for a look at the book, out of all the volumes, she never once read the Rammahgon. “What else does it say?” 

Finn traced his finger over Luke’s annotations as he spoke. “Luke sensed a great evil rising in the galaxy. He made an appeal to the Jedi that came after, to take up the search”—he paused as he figured out the last line—“and bring an end to the galaxy’s evil once and for all.” 

Rey took in what he’d said, then looked at him. “That’s us, Finn. The Jedi that came after . . . He’s talking about us.” 

Finn blinked. Rey was implying that they should be the ones to take up the search for Exegol. 

“That’s not a good idea,” he tells her. 

Rey regarded him with skepticism. “What’s all our training, if not for this?”

“You’re right, but . . . I can’t have anything bad happen to you.” 

A smile appears on her soft, pink plush lips. “And nothing will because I know you’ll protect me.” She whispers, leaning in close towards his face and Finn froze momentarily. 

He felt the urge to lean in and to kiss her but he knew that it wasn’t the time so he averts his gaze, eyes lingering back down to the page. “We’re going to need Beaumont’s help.” 

Enlisting Beaumont’s help they did, the three of them reading through Luke’s notes and the corresponding text in the Rammahgon. BB-8 joined them in moral support, looking good as new with having all his dents banged out and his panel replaced; the marksmanship of Anya Khan. 

“My conclusion is you cannot go to Exegol unless you have one of these,” Beaumont said. He flipped to a page in the book and showed them illustrations of objects shaped like pyramids. “Sith Wayfinders. Ancient things. They were always two. One for the Sith master, one for the apprentice.” 

Finn stared at the drawings. He had seen them before in his studies but he just assumed that they had something to do with the Force and the Jedi, not the Sith. 

“Luke was on the hunt for the Emperor’s Wayfinder.” Beaumont pointed at the largest of pyramidal sketches. “But his trail went cold on a desert world called Pasaana.” 

“In the Middian system?” Finn questions. 

Beaumont nods before continuing. “A man by the name of Cassius had directed him to Pasaana in order to find what he’d needed to get to find the wayfinder.” 

“A man?” Rey was intrigued by the statement. “Was he a Jedi?” 

He shakes his head. “Human,” Beaumont retorts, scanning the annotations quickly. “He sought him out, made a deal with Luke . . .” 

Rey and Finn exchange looks, curious and both having an unsettling feeling in the pits of their stomachs. They look back at Beaumont, him already facing them with his widened blue eyes.

“Cassius was making a deal that could save his child from the Emperor.” 

Nova sat in medbay, her right cheek having a bacta patch placed upon it which caused her to wince slightly as she stared directly at the floor before her. Flashes of the memory that the Second Sister brought forwards from her mental vault kept displaying before her eyelids and it was making her head pound severely. She wanted to forget it, to hide it behind her mental block but nothing would ever be able to. 

Kylo had carried her to the medbay, BD-1 tagging along and even stood next to him while he scanned the Supreme Leader. Kylo paid no mind to him, just simply kept his intense stare on Nova and her newly scared face. _Something_ had happened to the fighting simulation and it made him seethe. What in the stars’ names was going on exactly? Why did it happen now? And most importantly, who caused it to? 

His eyes scan over to peer at General Armitage Hux and Avellian. Both men were standing in the room because they had been notified by BB-9E of the ruckus that took place, and they were trying to ask Nova questions but she was unresponsive; still in shock. The only thing she could muster was, “How’s Elsie?” 

“She’s being taken care of,” Hux spoke diligently. “She kept asking the same about you. But I assured her that you were alright, and don’t worry, Nova, I’ll personally see to it that she gets the best new upgrades. As well as state of the art prosthetics.” 

Nova nods soberly and exhales through her nose, closing her eyes for a moment. The face of her mother crying and her stepfather trying to be brave for her were still fresh in her mind. They were ghosts to her now, and she was being haunted every time. 

“Do things like this normally happen?” Avellian questions, quirking a brow to Hux and to Kylo. “The Resistance destroyed the Finalizer on Batuu by being granted access and now, this? To Ms. Nova Hux? Certainly seems to be an act of sabotage, if you asked me.” 

Armitage steps forwards, inspecting Nova again for the fifth time. He hated seeing the girl upset and hurt, maybe not as much as Kylo but it left the same impression on the General. “Nova, did you notice anything unnatural during this altercation?”

Nova’s eyelids open, staring up at her brotherly figure that stood before her. A part of her being desperately wanted to tell him about the green smoke but it seemed like her very own memory was betraying her. Did she actually see the green smoke? Or had it been an illusion?

The door suddenly opens and Vicrul, Cardo, and Kuruk stand before everyone in the room. They had their helmets off and Nova was able to see their faces for the first time: [Vicrul ](https://i.imgur.com/SRJWedC.gif)had dark brown skin, eyes, and hair that was grown out on the top, in dreads, while the sides were closely shaved. He had a scruffy beard and mustache that framed his face much to her surprise. [Cardo](https://37.media.tumblr.com/c291bc082a4b136eec7574e3755de9cc/tumblr_mq18uyykpE1r032zxo1_250.gif) was light skinned, having shaggy hair that was dirty blond, grey eyes, and a cleft chin. He looked too friendly and kind, kinder than what Vicrul looked to be. Then there was [Kuruk](https://thumbs.gfycat.com/EntireSelfishCapybara-small.gif), he had russet skin, a wide nose, black eyes, and short black hair. He also had a cleft chin but it wasn’t nearly as noticeable as Cardo’s. She knew that they were human but she never pictured them looking so normal and strangely beautiful—and young! Right around Kylo's age of being twenty-nine. 

Vicrul pushed forward a roughed up Ovissian. Green blood dripped from still fresh wounds on his chin and arms, three of his four horns were cracked. “His name is Boolio. Captured at the Sinta Glacier Colony, Supreme Leader Ren. He’s a traitor.” 

“Why is he a traitor?” Nova asked him. 

Vicrul studies her for a moment then Hux, then to Kylo. “We have a spy in our ranks and they gave him”—he motions to the Ovissian—“the message of the Emperor being alive, just to deliver it straight to the Resistance.” 

Nova eyes the Ovissian and frowns, looking away from him as Hux hums in amusement. “Thank you, Vicrul. Nice to see that _someone_ goes out and gets things done on our behalf.” He remarks, clearly making a stab at Kylo with the statement. “Get rid of him. He committed treason.” 

In a swift movement, Vicrul took his scythe up and downward into an arc on the creature. Cardo and Kuruk then moved in to take the body and Vicrul grabbed the decapitated head, leaving the room without another word. 

Silence filled the room and it felt like stones were tied to Nova’s ankles, she couldn’t move and she felt planted. She wanted to speak but her words failed her in this type of conversation. What possibly could she say when she was the victim? 

“Whoever this traitor is, it won’t stop us.” Kylo spoke first, everyone turning necks to look his way but he stared out the viewport. “It won’t stop _me_. I’ll go to Exegol, and finish this once and for all.” 

On Exegol, he had learned that the age old enemies of the Jedi, the Sith, had not died out with Darth Vader. Their disciples kept the faith, waiting for someone to lead them. They were waiting for Emperor Palpatine, but why? Kylo figured that maybe the old man was weak and was now only choosing to do this plan of his because the end was nearing. 

Palpatine just needed one last show to get what he wanted with a weapon that was more powerful than Death Stars or Dreadnoughts, even more powerful than the Starkiller. It didn’t have a trigger, it didn’t shoot a blast. It couldn’t even kill. Yet, it could cause the most courageous of soldiers to quake in their boots and could compel masses of beings to do one’s bidding. 

That weapon was fear.

“We shouldn’t go to Exegol,” Nova speaks up, looking at him and he turns to meet her stare. “There’s a Sith fleet of Star Destroyers. Range and power of that kind would be more deadly than what Starkiller Base was. One step on Exegol and we’re done . . . We’re toast.” 

And there it was. Fear. 

It was already forming within Nova’s heart and Kylo felt it within their mental connection, and he pictured himself cradling her head against his chest and holding her tight. The feeling must have manifested into an invisible being because he saw Nova’s body slant off a tad and her shifts sideways. She seemed more relaxed, but that soon changed as Avellian began talking. 

“It’d either be us or them.” A pause. “The Resistance, I mean.” He clarifies. 

Nova examines him for a moment, sitting back up. “What do you mean? I thought you said no one can get to Exegol without a wayfinder?” 

“I did, and I meant it. But with the Resistance now knowing about the Emperor and Exegol, they’re going to track down the Emperor and that’ll start with trying to find the other Sith Wayfinder.” 

This time, Kylo spoke. “You also said that the grandchildren of the Sith could only retrieve the wayfinders.” 

Avellian nods, agreeing. “But when has rules ever stopped someone from trying to achieve their goals?” 

Nova gulps, fumbling with her fingers as her eyes linger down to where the Ovissian’s body was laying just seconds before. Everything was happening fast, that she just felt like she couldn’t keep up anymore. But her mind wouldn’t allow that, Nova was sharp, a smart thinker when it came to things like this. It was tiring to say the least but that’s how she was raised with her owners. _Eat or be eaten,_ Unkar Plutt’s words remind her as BD-1 flys up next to her on the bed.

“Luckily for you, I just so happen to know where they’re going to be at.” Avellian says smartly. “The loyal assistant that I told you about, the one that Palpatine sent out to find his rumored grandchild. When he left Exegol, he would’ve needed something to help him get back. Of course, such a servant wouldn’t have the actual wayfinder on him in preparation of anything happening to him, but rather something that would give him directions to where it was located.” 

“And where exactly is the Resistance going to be?” Armitage eyes him with interest, pulling out his datapad. 

Kylo took a step closer towards the older man. He was thinking about how he’d be falling in line with Ochi’s path, meaning that he’ll get a coherent backstory for how Nova came to be who she was. The puzzle was throwing out pieces to Kylo and all he needed to do was pick them up, and fit them together to get the picture. 

“The loyal assistant of the Emperor, his name was Ochi of Bestoon and the last place that he was spotted was on the world of Pasaana.”

BD-1 boop-beeps. He had never been there before and he was excited for the adventure despite what could happen there if they do find the Sith Assassin. 

A few taps here and there, and General Hux got a picture on his datapad. “A desert planet in the Expansion Region’s Ombakond sector, home of the Aki-Aki in the Middian system. Hm, very well. We’ll be sure to send troops out there and the Knights, of course, to keep an eye out for any Resistance activity while Supreme Leader Ren and Ms. Hux here go and try to find Ochi.” 

It was a plan and an urgent one that was put into effect. Kylo called for the Knights to get on the Knight Buzzard with a few Troopers and to head to the desert planet while Nova rested and regained her strength. There was no way in hell that Kylo was going to leave Nova alone again. 

Rey and Finn gathered a few belongings from their workshop and walked out of the cave into the clearing where the Millennium Falcon was parked. The freighter might have sustained some damage but there weren't any other ships that they would take. A few quick patches to the compressors would make it spaceworthy again. 

Rey was disconnecting a hose on the ignition line when Poe Dameron approached. She spoke even before he could. “Finn and I are going to pick up Luke’s search for Exegol. We’re going to start where the trail went cold, on the desert world of—”

“We know,” Poe interrupted. “We’re going with you.” 

He didn’t let her argue otherwise. He ducked under the Falcon’s forward mandible while Anya walked over with Freya. 

Rey shook her head. “Finn and I need to do this alone.” 

“Alone with your friends,” Anya nods. 

“No,” she says, “it’s too dangerous.” 

This time Freya spoke up. “That’s why we go _together_.” 

Poe returned with Chewbacca and BB-8. The Wookie ruffled that she and Finn weren’t flying the Falcon without him—Han wouldn’t have allowed it. 

Rey smiled at his joke as Finn stood next to her, placing his hand into hers. It was good to have friends. 

Leia stood at the mouth of the cave, overhearing C-3PO saying farewell to R2-D2 for he was going to join the others in the search of Exegol, under her authorization of course. “In the event I do not return, I want you to know you have been a real friend. My best one, in fact.” 

Leia smiled. Never underestimate a droid’s capacity for tenderness. She realized now that the fight for freedom she had waged her entire life had not just been for organic beings but all those who could be caring and compassionate, including droids. 

Over by the Falcon, she saw her students. “Finn? Rey?” She called. 

Their eyes met hers. The both of them walked up to her, appearing older than they were just days ago. Finn grew out his hair longer than Stormtrooper regulation and had cut off the sleeves of a brand new flight jacket he had picked out for himself, but his smile was as big as it had been on the day she’d first met him. For Rey, her hair grew out longer and she wore it half up in a bun and the rest of it was down, just had it been when her, Chewbacca, and Finn saved them on Crait. 

“I’ve taught you all that I know,” Leia began to say with a gentle smile. “To not be afraid, to rely on each other and to realize that your spirits are stronger as one. The two of you are something truly special, something that the Sith have been trying to create for centuries—a foretold prophecy. A _Tandem_.” 

Tandem was when two Force sensitive beings were linked together in body and in mind, as if they had been created together then split apart. Romantics on other worlds would just call it being soulmates but the Jedi called it being a Tandem. Rey read a small portion of it within the one Jedi texts. If she recalled it correctly, it had been Poetics of a Jedi. 

It explained everything as the two though about it: why the Force led Finn specifically to Rey. Why he felt such a connection with her and why Rey trusted him despite being a complete stranger. It was why she was so hurt when he tried to leave, why she was so relieved when he came to her rescue. It was why she felt like she knew him all her life and why he wanted to protect her so much. 

“I’m proud of you both.” Leia adds and embraces Finn. 

He held her tight, giving a gentle squeeze. “Thank you for everything, Leia.” Finn nods, letting her go and stepping back. 

Rey then gave her a hug and Leia whispered into the girl’s ear. “I know you fear for Nova, that you had visions of her death. But remember, the future is uncertain.” 

The nightmares Rey had, in which she saw her brilliant older sister being taken under the wing of a man who places her in the darkness. The darkness would be too much and it would suffocate Nova. It would destroy her. 

“Yes, master.” A tear escaped the girl’s eye as she let her go gently. 

Freya was running around, finally spotting Rose and calling to her. “Rose, last chance!”

Rose looks up at her. “The General asked me to study the specs of the old destroyers, so we can stop the fleet if you find them.” 

“If?” Freya prodded, grinning from ear to ear. 

Rose smiled, correcting herself. “When.” 

Freya leaned forwards, softly kissing Rose on the lips. “When.” She nods in agreement and hugs her tightly. “Be safe.” 

“And you, careful.” 

Rey was peering around the base, seeing the mess of jungle and wires and exposed terminals that had become home, and realized that leaving it would be harder than she thought. She loved the foliage, the way rain collected on broad waxy leaves, the scent of loamy soil. Green, she had decided—the color of jungles and forests and grass and _life_ —was her favorite. 

“We should get going,” came Finn’s voice. He seen her staring off into space and he felt her sadness through their connection, it weighing in on his shoulders. “What is it?” 

“Nothing,” Rey said, a soft and gentle lie. 

He didn’t press on, he just wrapped his arm around her tenderly and led her towards the Falcon and inside towards the cockpit where Chewbacca, Poe, Anya, Freya, BB-8, and C-3PO were all waiting. Their wonderful friends, their best crew. 

As the Millennium Falcon’s engines warmed for launch, Maz came to stand next to Leia. “You didn’t tell them what comes next.” 

“How could I?” Leia frowns. 

“There is still hope, my friend.” Maz, who was always so sure of herself, said. “This path will reveal everything; the good and the evil, the rights and wrongs. The truth and secrets, the light and the darkness. They’ll need to face it, and fight.” 

The General and the pirate watched as the Falcon soared above the treetops, flying away and vanishing directly into hyperspace.


	26. Sinking Fields

Rey scanned the Pasaana desert with Finn’s quadnoculars. There was nothing but mountains and rocks and dunes and sand. It reminded her of home. 

She never really thought of Jakku as her home until she had left it. 

“We sure we landed in the right place?” Poe stood on an outcropping besides her and Finn. He wore a scarf around his neck to protect him against the sand and wind. Chewbacca, Anya, Freya, and the droids came up from the Falcon behind them. 

“These are the exact coordinates that Master Luke left behind,” C-3PO stated, though no one had asked him. 

Something boomed in the distance, followed by what sounded like loud crooning. “What was that?” Freya asked, walking up to inspect the noise. 

C-3PO eagerly offered his expertise. “It sounds like the end of a local Aki-Aki prayer!” 

Around a rocky buttle, the group stopped in astonishment. Down in the valley, thousands of the planet’s native population, the Aki-Aki, had gathered to dance, sing, and play instruments around bonfires. A couple of treadables—the split track landcrawlers the Aki-Aki drove across the desert wastes—deposited even more celebrants. 

“Why, it is!” C-3PO waggled his arms excitedly. “We happen to have arrived the very day of their Festival of the Ancestors, which happens once every forty-two years!” 

Poe smacked his face with his hand, mentally sighing and Anya just patted his shoulder. She understood the stress that he was under ever since Crait, and though things got better, Poe believed that he couldn’t afford any sidetracking that could potentially throw his friends in more danger. 

“Well, _that’s_ lucky,” Finn commented. 

“Lucky indeed!” C-3PO exclaimed. “The festival is meant to be delightful! It’s known for its colorful kites and delectable sweets.” 

The entire group stared at him. For the protocol droid, it was as if sightseeing and saving the galaxy were one and the same. 

Once they waded into the crowds, Rey had to admit the festival was, indeed, delightful. Using their prehensile trunks like an extra pair of hands, Aki-Aki musicians pounded drums, below pipes, and banged cymbals to produce an entrancing melody. Colored smoke swirled around dancers in equally colorful robes, who swung their double trunks in rhythm to the beat. Others tended the bonfires or sold water orbs and sweetmallow candies to those who watched the dance. A fair number of outsiders mingled about to witness the spectacular cultural event for themselves. 

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Rey comments, smiling as she squints from the dazzling sun. 

“I never seen so few wayfinders,” Anya retorted, peering around. 

Finn was warily searching the crowd. “There’s always random First Order patrols in crowds like these. We need to keep our heads down.” 

Freya then glanced up at Chewbacca. “That means you especially, Chewie.” 

The Wookie mumbled a response, ducking his head as he, Freya, Anya, and Poe continued forwards with BB-8. Rey and Finn hung back with C-3PO, seeing a puppeteer performing a rendition of an Aki-Aki myth with dolls dangling on strings. Rey was more fascinated by the children who watched the show, the small Aki-Aki giggled and cooned, crawling around on the ground or bounding about on stumpy feet. Having not yet grown their double trunks, they looked like bundles of baby fat, clapping doughy hands in glee and blinking button sized eyes. 

Finn watched as an Aki-Aki girl in a green robe pulled on Rey’s capelet, speaking in the Aki-Aki language. “She is saying ‘welcome’.” C-3PO translated. 

Rey kneeled down before her, receiving a gift for doing so. The girl placed a necklace from kern-nut husks around Rey’s collar and Rey smiled in appreciation. 

The girl spoke again and C-3PO translated again. “She says her name is Nambi Ghima.” 

“That’s an excellent name. I’m Rey.” 

Nambi tooted a question. “She would be honored to know your family name, too,” C-3PO said. 

Rey nearly winced. “I don’t have one. I’m just Rey.” 

As she said her name again, Finn felt a presence tugging at his mind. He turned and peered around, seeing a familiar white figure over by a merchant who was selling colorful fans, jewelry made from grains like the one that Rey wore, candies, and other wares. A Stormtrooper. It wasn’t the sight of him that made Finn’s hands produce sweat, it was the foreboding sensation of what would happen next. 

Rey could feel Finn’s apprehension and stood almost immediately after Nambi left to head back to her family, the two of them motioning C-3PO to come with them as they hustled through the crowds. The three found the others making inquiries with a merchant. 

“We have to go back to the Falcon,” Finn said between breaths. 

Anya furrowed her brows. “What? Why?” 

“Trust me. We need to leave.” Finn started heading out of the festival grounds without further explanation with Rey’s hand in his. The group joined, with C-3PO trying to keep up. 

A different Stormtrooper spied them rounding a tent, heading for the general direction of where they parked the Millennium Falcon. “Freeze. Hold it right there!” He aimed his rifle at them and clicked his comm to alert his squad. “I’ve located the Resistance fugitives. All units report to—” 

A metal bolt plunged into the Trooper’s visor. The Trooper collapsed and his comlink went silent. They turned around, seeing a figure in brown robes and a saucer shaped helmet emerging from the tent carrying a prod pistol. “Follow me.” The figure said through a mask. 

The rescuer headed in the opposite direction of where Finn had been going. Rey had the sense to follow and nodded to the others to let them know that it was alright. Off they went after the figure, the golden protocol droid still struggling. 

The masked figure moved through the crowds, arriving at one of the giant treadables. Two grip tracks encased the vehicle’s huge wheels, allowing it to roll over rocky terrain. It was already moving, and the figure leapt into its cargo cage. Finn and his group did the same, with Chewbacca pulling C-3PO into the treadable with him. 

“Leia sent me a transmission. Told me you might need a helping hand,” the figure said, then parted a metal panel to give directions to the driver. “To the east passage, Kalo’ne!” 

Trinkets and wares from all over Pasaana filled the cargo compartment, dangling from the ceiling and walls, all for sale. Rey, however, was more interested in this masked figure and why he or she had rescued them. 

Finn voiced her question. “How’d you find us?” 

The figure pulled off the helmet, revealing a dark haired human with a grey mustache and a smile that could charm an Ugnaught. “Wookies stand out in a crowd.” 

Chewbacca roared with joy and pushed Finn aside to embrace the man. 

“It’s good to see you, too, old buddy!” His friend said after they parted. 

C-3PO perked up from almost having been left behind. “This is General Lando Calrissian. Allow me to give you a complete history of—”

Rey softly spoke, smiling. “We know who he is, Threepio.” Lando was one of the greatest heroes of the Rebellion, the gambler turned general who had helmed the Falcon in the successful attack on the Empire’s second Death Star. He also had been a close friend of Han and Leia’s. 

Finn shared her excitement. “It is an honor, General.” 

Lando’s eyes then searched their faces, smiling as well but it faltered when they landed on Freya. Stepping close towards her, he automatically knew something about her and he didn’t need the Force to tell him what he felt. 

“Freya?” He says in a mere whisper. “Is that you?”

“Yeah,” she eyes him with consideration. “You know me?” 

“Of course, you wouldn’t remember . . .” Lando then frowned, shaking his head foolishly and everyone just watched him in silence as he began to explain. “The First Order went after us, the leaders from the old wars. They took our kids, turned them into our enemies. Han and Leia’s son, Ben. And my girl who wasn’t even old enough to walk, who became a Stormtrooper because they wanted to kill the spirit of the Rebellion.” 

Slowly, then all at once, Freya understood. She understood why Leia suggested she go on this mission rather than stay with Rose on Ajan Kloss. Why Leia sent Lando Calrissian the transmission to help them out. What _the_ Lando Calrissian, a person who Freya respected from Leia’s stories without any rational explanation, was meaning by his story. 

“. . . Dad?” Lando nods and in the tender moment of being found at last, Freya took her father into her arms and he held her so tight. After thirty years of searching, he had finally found his daughter and he had Leia to thank for that. 

Rey had to refrain herself from tearing up. She blinks repeatedly, averting her gaze and stares out a small viewing port to see them leaving the festival. Rey wished that she could meet her father, to reunite with him once again and to know if he ever looked for her after leaving. 

Once the moment subsided, Poe apologized sincerely for his upcoming bluntness but every second that passed was putting them at threat. “We’re looking for Exegol.” 

Lando took them all in for a moment, especially his daughter. “Of course you are.” He touched his wrist comlink and it projected a hologram of a pyramidal object with strange markings. 

“A Sith wayfinder.” Finn said and BB-8 chirps. “Skywalker came here to find one.” 

Lando chuckled. “I know, I was with him.” 

Suddenly, Finn and Rey exchanged a look of pure shock. 

“Luke and I were tailing an old Jedi hunter, Ochi of Bestoon.” Lando hit another button on his comlink and the holo shifted into what appeared to be a black eyed humanoid wearing a cybernetic implant around the back of his head. 

Finn looked at the projection long and hard. “Cassius . . .” he started to say, remembering what Beaumont said about Luke’s journal entries. “He directed you both here to Pasaana to find him, and in return, Cassius wanted Luke to save his child from Palpatine. Why?” Finn pondered, eyes shifting up to meet Lando’s. “What did Palpatine have to do with him?” 

The old pilot from the days of the Empire takes a moment to recollect the old memory. 

“Cassius was his son, and that child was the last of the Emperor’s bloodline who held power of the Force.” Lando states which makes the whole entire cargo compartment flabbergasted, absorbing the information. “He feared that Ochi would kidnap his child and take them to Exegol in order to preserve the Emperor’s life essence. He told us that Ochi was carrying a clue that would lead to the Emperor’s wayfinder and if we took it from him, the Jedi hunter would have no way of taking the child to the Unknown Regions.”

The gang couldn’t believe their ears. A grandchild of Emperor Sheev Palpatine was roaming around and the father of that being had gone to Luke himself to try and make sure that they had a fighting chance against Ochi and the Emperor. If this had happened years ago, where was the grandchild at now? 

Lando continued. “We flew halfway across the galaxy to get here. When we got to Ochi’s ship, it was abandoned. No clue, no wayfinder.” 

Rey began thinking. “Is Ochi’s ship still here?” 

He turns off his comlink. The hologram fizzling away. It’s out in the desert, where he left it.” 

“We need to get to that ship. Search it again.” Rey said. Poe nodded in agreement. 

High pitched engines whined outside the treadable. Finn peeked out an opening in the compartment, though he didn’t need to. He knew the sound by heart—TIE fighters. 

“I got a bad feeling about this,” Lando sighs. “Ochi’s ship is out past Lurch Canyon. Go.” 

Chewbacca ruffled a heartfelt farewell before he jumped out of the treadable with C-3PO in his hairy palms. Freya gave her father another hug, promising that she’d come back to him once the Resistance was safe before leaping out with Anya. Poe was next with BB-8, that only left Rey and Finn in the cargo compartment. 

“Leia needs pilots, General.” Rey comments. 

That made Lando grin again. “My flying days are long gone. But do me a favor. Give Leia my love.” 

Lando’s could melt hearts, but Rey sensed that pain and loneliness lurked underneath. She braved a suggestion. “You should give it to her yourself. Thank you.” 

His smile wavered, the slightest twitch. And then he was out of her sight as Rey leapt out of the treadable. 

“You never find out who they were?” Finn asked, pausing at the doorway and giving the older man one last look. “Palpatine’s grandchild?” He clarified the question. 

“Luke did.” Lando informs the younger man. “He never told me a name, but he _did_ tell me that the child was a daughter.” 

Out of the Night Buzzard stepped Nova, dawning her very own rendition of the old Imperial sister inquisitor suits which was part of Vicrul’s thinking that Captain Phasma highly encouraged. She stood in her own personalized black and grey bodysuit that was built to withstand blaster bolts, her sleeves pleated like Kylo’s. It also came with a black cape that was detachable, and she wore gauntlets on each wrist that acted in substitute for her leather cuff. Her new water resistance knee high boots crunch against the grainy ground, the treading on the bottom gave her multiple terrain traction which she was personally thankful for. 

Nova eyes the desolate stretches of the desert before her and it reminds her of Jakku, and how she would go roaming for hours and get lost in her own thoughts. Scavenging for whatever might be of worth, rarely ever seeing another form of life, and when she did trade in the scrap she’d found, she’d return directly back to her baby sister to avoid socializing at the Niima Outpost. 

BD-1 chirps as Vicrul steps up next to her, breathing in the dry air before placing his helmet upon his head. “Can already smell the Resistance from here.” 

“We’re not here to hurt them,” Nova spoke, taking a gander at him. “We’re getting the clue and leaving, that’s it.” 

“As you wish, Commander Hux.” 

Nova looks away from him and around at the Aki-Aki who were enjoying their festival and BD-1 trills, running around on his two mechanical legs and scanning everything in sight. The little droid reminded her so much of herself. He has been through a lot; been passed around on many planets and perhaps a lot of previous owners, but he still maintained curiosity and wonder. She had too. 

Avellian steps out of a transport, his shoes automatically sinking into the sand and beads of sweat formed over his forehead and lip. He fanned himself with his hand, already grabbing for his canteen of water to take a drink. The wind blew hard and the grains of the land pelt him, having him wince here and there as he gulped down the sweat liquid. 

He eyes Nova, shuddering. “Ms. Hux, how can you withstand this heat? Let alone wear an entire black suit. This is intense, sweltering weather.” 

He joined in the mission since he was the one who knew what they needed to look for. Or at least, had an idea. Avellian was a strange man, very knowledgeable but peculiar. He reminded Nova of an Arboreal octopus. Fascinating and an incredibly smart creature but odd for being out of character, out of the environment. An octopus belonged to the water, but the Arboreal octopus lived on land. Avellian belonged to research that involved myths, legends, and reading, not travel.

“Used to live on Jakku,” she informs him. “The ultraviolet rays there were far worse than this.” 

Avellian nods. “Perhaps I’m just not meant to be on such planets.” 

Nova smirks, about to speak but she was cut off by an incoming transmission. She answers her comlink.

“We spotted the fugitives,” a Stormtrooper speaks. “They’re on skimmers, heading for Lurch Canyon.” 

Rey, Finn, Chewbacca, and BB-8 were aboard an old cargo transport while Poe, Anya, Freya, and C-3PO were on a newer model loader. Both contained bundles of farm produce ostensible to be sold at the festival market. Poe gunned his skimmer’s engine and Rey followed. They sped through the badlands, the two skimmers side by side. Holding the tiller, Rey relished the wind whipping dust and sand in her face. For the second time that day, she felt at home, as if she were on Jakku riding her junkspeeder back from a scavenging expedition.

In the skimmer next to her, she could hear Freya shout at Anya. “How exactly do you know shifty stuff like ripping speeders and lightspeed skipping?” 

Anya shrugged. “Just stuff I picked up.” 

“And exactly _where_?” Freya asked. 

A hail of laserfire splattered food sacks in the rear of Poe’s skimmer. Finn glanced back and saw Two First Order treadspeeders—track geared patrol bikes that grappled the rough surface—ripped through the sands after them, each carrying a pair of Stormtroopers. 

Rey and Poe tilted their skimmers to dodge the treadspeeder’s lasers. Anya withdrew her blaster, Chewbacca his bowcaster. Both returned fire. The speeders’ drivers shifted their forward treads to the side, pluming up dust. Their passengers, meanwhile, launched off the treadspeeders with rocket packs. 

“Oh!” C-3PO cried out. “They fly now!” 

“They fly now?” Anya was astonished, turning to look at Freya who used to be a Stormtrooper. 

“They fly _now_.” Freya replied, a tad annoyed because of course, the First Order would bring back the concept of Jumptroopers that were active during the days of the Empire. 

Poe directed his skimmer toward a canyon and Rey turned hers toward a dustgrain farm. The treadspeeders also diverged to follow, though both Jet Troopers flew after Rey. 

Chewbacca shot bowcaster rounds at the pursuing vehicle. The treadspeeder pivoted on its rotating track and eluded the plasma quarrels. Hovering over them, the Jet Troopers fired timed charges into the sand in front of the skimmer. Rey banked the skimmer on its side to avoid an exploding charge, then righted it to dodge a second explosion. 

The Wookie aimed up at the Jet Troopers, causing them to move further apart. With one hand on the tiller, Rey drew her blaster pistol and shot at the treadspeeder. A deflector field around the vehicle shimmered, absorbing her shots. 

“Rey, look!” Finn pointed a long arm. On a bluff ahead of them lay the outline of a starship, which had to be Ochi’s vessel. 

Lasers hammered the skimmer’s deck. Rey yanked the tiller to dodge another blast. A Jet Trooper plummeted from the sky into the sand, struck by Chewbacca’s quarrel. The Wookie bellowed in triumph and took aim at the other Trooper. 

Rey brought the skimmer into a field of electro-sifter poles that resembled the moisture vaporators on Jakku. The remaining Jet Trooper soared past them, dropping explosive charges. Behind them, the treadspeeder was gaining, its laser getting too close for Rey’s comfort. Rey had to steer through both the sifters and a minefield of charges while shooting back at the treadspeeder. But her blaster bolts were too weak to penetrate the speeder’s shields. 

BB-8 warbled to Finn, the boy kneeling down and listening to what the astromech had to say. His eyes darted to a canister and he inspected it, smiling at the genius droid. Finn stood, waiting for the right moment. Before the skimmer swerved, Finn threw the canister high into the air and called on the Force, causing the entire thing to explode in a yellowish cloud that matched the smoke used at the festival. 

The cloud was so thick it completely engulfed the treadspeeder. Blinded, the driver never saw the boulder in his path. The treadspeeder struck it and launched into the air and Rey had a shot at the speeder’s underbelly repulsors, she took it and it exploded. 

Poe laid into the throttle of his skimmer but it was already at its maximum speed. Anya resumed firing with her blaster rapidly, trying to get in any hit that she could. One shot hit target, the treadspeeder jerked off to the side but it continued on its path.

A Trooper aimed and tried to shoot at Freya but she dropped quickly, avoiding the fire and spotted a long coiled rope with large metal hooks on each end. The one end was secured to the pole and she had an idea, a brilliant one in fact. She grabbed the hook and jumped onto her feet, throwing it at the treadspeeder. 

“Poe,” she shouts. “Ninety degrees!” 

The pilot turned, seeing the hook in the tread and automatically understood. 

Once the rope was eaten up by the speeder, Poe shifted the skimmer sharply, all of them making an impossible right turn. The rope remained taut and from the immense pressure, the treadspeeder skidded in an arc which made sand fly everywhere. The speeder then slammed into the side of the canyon, exploding into a ball of fire and dust as they exited out of Lurch Canyon and caught up with Rey’s skimmer. 

Navigating the last stretch of the dustgrain farm, Finn could see the starship parked on a butte on the desert flats beyond. It was an older transport model he couldn’t identify. 

From besides him, Rey spoke. “Ochi’s ship.” She was squinting. “I’ve seen that ship before.” 

“Rey! Finn!” Poe shouted. “You get all of them?!”

Before either one of them could answer, the Jet Trooper rocketed over Ochi’s starship and came at them, unloading projectiles. Charges landed on both speeders and detonated, tossing everyone off. The impact of their landing was soft enough that everyone pulled out their blasters and began firing. Chewbacca’s quarrel nailed the Trooper in the pack while Poe burned a hole in his armor. Whirling around in the air, the Jet Trooper screamed as he smashed into a rock and his jet pack exploded. 

“That takes care of that.” Freya remarks, trying to stand up but her body began sinking into black sand. “What the hell is this?” 

Poe tried to move out as well, but his arms and legs were stuck in place and he cursed loudly. 

Rey found her own legs being sucked down into a pit. “Sinking fields! Try to grab something!” 

“There’s nothing to grab!” Anya panicked. “Poe!” She cried out, trying to reach for him but they were too far apart. 

Chewbacca whined as struggling only made it worse. C-3PO was down to his wait. “Will this agony ever end?”

Beeping the whole while, BB-8 spun until the black sand enveloped him. Poe was next to him, flailing his arms then, “Oh, come on!” Down he went. 

Anya and Freya then sunk into the sand, Chewbacca right on their heels as Rey yelled out to them in horror. C-3PO didn’t even get a final complaint as his vocabulator was clogged. 

Finn tried to keep his head above the surface. “Rey!” She looks over at him, her eyes filled with worry and failure and Finn feels his entire heart stop beating. It was now or never. “Rey, I never told you, I—” 

The sand muted his response. And he vanished. 

“Finn!” Sand then poured over her and she was reminded of home, one last time. 

The sand was everywhere; in her eyes, mouth, and ears. Black, gritty stuff that shocked her breath, abraded her skin. The more she struggled with her arms and legs, the more she was sucked down into the pit. 

But then she could move her foot, and her leg, and then both feet and both legs, under the lower half of her body was free and she was sliding down through a chute of sand. She felt air instead of sand and landed in soft hands that held her securely. 

“Rey,” it was Finn and he held her as they were in a dark cavern, dimly lit from the holes in the quicksand above. 

“Finn,” his name leaves her breathless and she hugs him tight as he properly rests her onto her feet. 

In the back, they could hear Freya asking, “Where’s Chewie?” 

Anya then asked if C-3PO was alright, noticing his sand crusted plating. He told her that he was quite fine. 

Behind them, a long shaggy form fell through the ceiling to thud onto the ground. The pain groan was all Wookie but he managed to stand and shake off the sand. BB-8 rolled nearby and whistled as Poe emerged from a tunnel.

“What is this place?” Anya glanced around.

“This isn’t the afterlife, is it?” C-3PO eyed the surrounding area as well. “Are droids allowed here?” 

Poe peers up to the ceiling, sand drizzling down as the holes begin closing. “I thought we were goners.” 

“We might still be, sir,” the golden protocol droid spoke. 

Freya looked around the cavern. “So which way is out?” 

Rey unhooked her lightsaber and switched it on, the pink blade providing some illumination. Finn then extended his, the green light giving them a little more. 

The currents of the Force swirled in the cavern, in ways both Rey and Finn couldn’t understand. They tugged the two Jedi in training toward the tunnel, and they didn’t question it. “This way. We have to hurry.” 

Finn held up his lightsaber and took the lead. The tunnel was circular in structure with segmented ridges, as if something had burrowed through the ground. Rey remembered a story that a trader on Jakku had once told her about a sand serpent called the vexis. It dwelled in Pasaana’s desert and was generally peaceful unless provoked, but if it was, ‘you can count your mortal breaths’, the trader had said. Rey didn’t recall anything about it living underground, however. 

“I don’t want to know what made these tunnels,” Poe muttered. 

C-3PO canted his head to look upward. “Judging by the bore circumference, any number of deadly species could—”

Poe cut him off. “I said I do not wanna know. Not.” 

As they went around a turn, Rey walked close to Finn. “So what was it? What were you going to tell me?”

Finn studied the tunnel. “When?” 

She sensed he was trying to dodge her question. “When you were sinking in the sand, you said, ‘I never told you’.” 

Finn wouldn’t look her in the eye, his heart sped up too much. “I thought I would never see you again, that we met our end and I just wanted you to know that you mean a lot to me.” 

Rey couldn’t help but feel herself smile wide, beaming at his words. “You mean a lot to me, too, Finn.” 

A sharp beep from BB-8 stopped drew everyone’s attention toward a shamed up vehicle in the tunnel ahead of them. “What’s that?” Poe asked. 

“Is that a speeder?” Finn took bigger steps, getting closer to shine his blade on the wreckage. It gave him a strange feeling. 

“An old one,” Rey said. 

“Perhaps we’ll find the driver.” 

BB-8 trilled something snarky. “Yep, BB-8, I think dead, too.” Poe said. Chewbacca barked in agreement. 

None of their sarcasm dulled C-3PO’s curiosity. He toddled up to the speeder and examined an ornament decorating its hood. “Oh, my. A hex charm.”

Anya wrinkled her brow. “A what?” 

C-3PO backed away from the speeder, no longer curious. “A common emblem of Sith loyalists.” 

“This was Ochi’s?” Freya asked, indicating the speeder. 

Rey searched her feelings and the still noise of the Force gave her insight. “Luke sensed it. Ochi had never left.” 

“And he ended up down here,” Finn said, using the Force like how Rey did to gain perception. “He was headed for his ship. Same thing that happened to us, happened to him. The sinking fields.”

“So how did Ochi get out?” Anya pondered, glancing around with her flashlight that she had turned on earlier. 

Rey looked past the wreckage and realized what she felt in the tunnel was death. “He didn’t.” 

On the tunnel floor lay a humanoid skull, a skeleton, and the shells of gouge beetles that had devoured the flesh. 

“No, he didn’t.” Finn confirms and Chewbacca groans. 

“Bones. I don’t like bones.” Poe said, looking away. 

C-3PO bent forward to take a closer look. “Bones? Never a good sign.” 

A beep from BB-8 drew Finn over to a pile of what had to be Ochi’s belongings. He kneeled, sifting through shredded clothes and pulled out a leather belt. A knife sheath hung on the belt. From it Finn pulled a wicked looking dagger with an arrowhead-shaped blade. His hand became cold, deathly cold, as he held it. 

Anya aimed her glowrod at the dagger. Runes had been chiseled into the blade. “There’s writing on it,” she commented. 

“Perhaps I can translate,” C-3PO offered. 

Finn stood, handing the dagger over to C-3PO. The golden droid held the blade to the light and examined the runes. 

“Lovely metalwork . . . oh! The location of the wayfinder, has been inscribed upon this dagger. It’s the clue Master Luke was looking for.” 

“And where’s the wayfinder?” Freya looks at him. 

C-3PO turned to face her and the others. “I am afraid that I cannot tell you.” 

Poe got heated. “Twenty point three fa-zillon languages, you can’t read that?” 

“Oh, I have read it, sir. I know exactly where the wayfinder is. Unfortunately, it is written in the runic language of the Sith.” 

“So what?” Rey said, starting to get heated herself. 

The droid’s joints creaked when he turned to her. “My programming forbids me from translating it.” 

Poe looked like he was about to disassemble the droid. “You’re telling me the one time we need you to talk, you can’t?” 

“Irony, sir.” C-3PO states and Freya snorts at the humor. “I am mechanically incapable of speaking translations from the Sith. My vocal processors cannot photnate the words.” A shadow, large and sinuous in shape, with eyes that glittered like fire gems, grew in the tunnel ebind C-3PO as he droned on. “I believe the rule was passed by the Senate of the Old Republic—”

BB-8 scooted behind Rey. Chewbacca raised his bowcaster. Anya, Freya, and Poe raised their blasters. Nothing something was amiss, C-3PO finally turned—and cried out so loud that static crackled through his vocoder and dropped the dagger. 

The creature opened a jaw full of giant fangs and hissed. Looking at the beast, Rey knew the trader’s story was not a tall tale. The vexis was real. 

Remembering his failed attempt on the Antonian pit beast, Finn lowered his lightsaber and turned it off. He hooks it onto his belt and stared into the creature’s eyes. The vexis lifted its head high over them and hissed again, lashing them with a wind that blew Chewbacca’s fur, the girl’s hair, and pushed BB-8 backward. 

Finn locked his gaze on the vexis’s eyes. Something in them told him that things were not what they seemed. Taking a step forward, he relied on what he’d forgotten when sinking into the quicksand. His training. 

The vexis’s head hovered above him, yet it didn’t strike. Reflected in its jewel like eyes, Finn saw something other than aggression. He saw pain. “What’s wrong, buddy?” 

The vexis hissed a third time, its fangs gleaming. Finn wavered, but he didn’t break focus from those eyes. Through the Force, he calmed himself but also tried to do the same for the beast. He let it know that he meant it no harm. 

“You lost someone, didn’t you?” Finn asked, sensing grief. “I know how that feels. It’s terrible to lose someone you care about and it’s alright to be sad, to be hurt. But you’ve been carrying this around for a while, haven’t you? I can help you.” 

The vexis lowered its head to his face. Finn did not back away as it did but rather, raised his hand to it’s snout and placed it there. Closing his eyes, he imagined plucking away its sadness as if it were picking up apples that fell on the floor. Feeling the emotional state of the creature becoming lighter, warmer as he bonded with it through the Force. 

When he opened his eyes, the forked tongue of the vexis came out and hissed, tousling his hair. 

The serpent then squeezed itself around the tunnel and slithered, breaking away a part of the wall to reveal the sunshine from outside. He turned to the group, smiling. “We’ve got our way out.” 

Chewbacca picked up the dagger and slipped it into his satchel. Then they all followed out of the hole, reaching the surface and seeing Ochi’s spaceship parked at the top of a rocky butte. 

They climbed up the slope, with Chewbacca carrying BB-8 in his arms. C-3PO brought up the rear with Anya. “We cannot possibly fly in that old wreck.” 

Poe glanced back over his shoulder at him. “We gotta keep moving. Find someone who can translate that dagger. Like a helpful droid.” 

C-3PO didn’t seem to process the put-down. He had stopped to stare at the rusty transport at the top of the ridge. “I suggest we return to the Millennium Falcon at once.” 

“They’ll be waiting for us at the Falcon,” 

Freya nodded in assent. “If they catch us, they’ll send us to the pits of Grig.” 

“Yeah, and use you as a target droid,” Poe said to the golden droid. 

“You both make excellent points, at times.” He started ascending the ridge again, moving faster than Rey thought was possible. 

While the others went with the droid, Rey paused. Something rippled through the Force, coming not from the ship but somewhere else. Finn stopped a few steps away and looked at her. “You feel it, too?” 

Slowly, she faces him and hands over her satchel. “I have to see what it is. I’ll be okay.”

Rey walked down and Finn kept his eyes on her as she went, the feeling in the Force stronger than anything he’s ever felt before and he stared out at the horizon. 

Once Nova entered Lurch Canyon, she felt a pull towards the rocky buttes and walked through the plateau alone while the Knights stayed on higher ground and kept an eagle eye from far away. BD-1 ran alongside her, beeping occasional questions just to pass the time and Nova didn’t mind. 

In the distance, Nova saw the silhouette of a starship sitting atop of a ridge and she instantly felt like a weight was lifted off her shoulders. She had found it, Ochi’s ship! But something else tugged at her awareness and her eyes drift to see a white clothed figure waiting for her. Automatically, she knew it was her little sister, Rey. And behind her, a black speck grew to a dot and it turned into a ball with sharp edged wings. It was approaching all too fast. 

Kylo Ren’s TIE fighter sped across the desert toward Nova and she saw how Rey unclipped her lightsaber, squared her shoulders and ignited her magenta blade. The Force told her what her sister was about to do and Nova’s eyes widened. Rey crouched and took off in a sprint as the engines of Ochi’s freighter roared to life nearby and the TIE screamed. 

Rey ran with all her muscle and her might. Her lightsaber flashes before her and her boots kick up sand and dust. She ran up alongside Kylo’s TIE, meeting together side by side in a race. Pressing further with the Force, Rey trekked ahead by a few meters and gritted her teeth, raising her hands above her head and leapt. 

Not forward but backward. The Force gave her lift. 

Somersaulting in midair, she flung herself over the TIE while slashing down with her lightsaber blade. She landed on her feet, facing the rear of the cockpit. 

Kylo’s TIE sped onward and then one of the wing rods crumpled, due to an expert slice from Rey’s saber. The wing smashed the ground and broke off, the TIE careened, and then the same thing happened to its other wing. But the TIE cockpit kept going, tearing through the desert sands, a wingless ball rolling over itself. 

Up in the cockpit of Ochi’s freighter, Finn saw what happened and hurried out, heading down the slope but paused at the corner of an outcropping, seeing tall figures with dark armor and strange weapons surrounding Chewbacca. Stormtroopers were there with their transports, looking through the Wookie’s satchel and withdrew the dagger out. 

They then redirected Chewbacca into the one transport, Finn spotting Captain Phasma who shoved him up the ramp and inside. He felt despair and malevolence through the Force, and it suffocated him. Their clue to the wayfinder and their friend were about to be taken, and as much as Finn could harbor the Force, he just knew that he wouldn’t be able to withstand the Knight alone. He’d need Rey, his other half—his Tandem. 

“Commander Hux!” Avellain’s voice came through Nova’s comlink as she was trying to rush towards Kylo’s smoldering TIE cockpit. “We got Ochi’s clue! It’s in the transport! It’s leaving now, we did it.” 

An engine begins whirring and Nova lifts her head to the sky, seeing a First Order Troop transport flying towards the clouds. 

A new noise pierced the air. “Rey!” It was Finn and he was running towards her, shouting something but Nova was having a hard time trying to focus. She was using her Force connection to try and connect with Kylo, to see if he was alive. 

Once he tugged on their mental livewire, she sighs with relief and breathes out to gain fresh air into her lungs. BD-1 beeps urgently and Nova peers back at her sister and at Finn. 

Rey was eyeing the armored transport, knowing that she was too far from Ochi’s craft to pursue them in time. It left her with only one option. She extended her hand toward the transport. If the Force could move mountains, it could move starships. 

Rey called on the Force to apply it at its most fundamental level—as a force. Channeling it through her, she tried to wrench the transport back to the planet. 

The transport stalled in the air. Its engines sputtered. It was attempting to move forward, but she held it back. Her body trembled, her mind and muscles ached from the strain so Finn threw out his hand as well, helping her out. Together, and in sync, the transport slowly started to descend, meter by meter, toward the ground. 

Then another force yanked it in the other direction. 

The transport’s engines blazed. Rey and Finn nearly lost their grip. The two tighten their hold and pulled harshly, taxing their bodies to the limit. Rey glanced down, seeing her opponent.

Nova stood as a silhouette in the distance, left hand fixed on the transport, determined to not let the Resistance—not let Rey—get the clue that led to the wayfinder. She knew they would never make it. Rey was Jedi and Palpatine was the mastermind behind Order 66—the fall of the Jedi Order. Just knowing that something like that could possibly happen to her sister, or even Finn, made fear grow in the pit of Nova’s stomach. 

In the background, Finn could see Kylo Ren near the smoking wreck of his TIE cockpit, seeingly unhurt. The wind blew as he walked towards Nova, his cape flapping behind him as he watched the ultimate game of tug of war that was happening in the blue sky against him and Rey, and Nova. Thinking it was unfair, two against one, Kylo added in his own arm. 

The two couples pulled, like two opposing tractor beams, with the transport caught in the middle. Its engines whined, threatening to burst. Something would have to give soon. 

Rey and Finn couldn’t let the First Order take Chewbacca, nor the dagger. They couldn’t allow another hero from the stories of their youth, another friend, to perish because of Kylo Ren. 

They pulled with every fiber of their being. The strain took an enormous toll on them. Blood rushed to their heads and their faces drew taut and red, storms roaring in their ears. The transport began shifting towards them. 

Nova trembled but still kept on persisting as she kept on thinking what would happen if they did travel to Exegol. The Resistance will try to stop the Sith fleet but there’s only so few of them that it’ll easily be a slaughter, Rey and Finn will try to fight Palpatine but if he had survived this long, that just meant that he was capable of anything. Even killing her sister, and the person Rey deeply cared for. Finn. _No!_ Nova won’t let that happen, she refused! 

Her neck swelled and her wrist gradually twisted for more leverage, fingers twitching here and there. The Force vibrated roughly in her ears, rumbling like thunder and she clenched her jaw tight. She drew on her and Kylo’s strength, drew on how every owner she had taught her badly, and how she used to cry herself to sleep at night. When she lost her leather cuff that was a symbolic promise that she gave to her sister. When the Second Sister told her that the father she thought was hers wasn’t, and that him and her mother sold them to protect them. All it made Nova reach a breaking point. From it erupted a power she didn’t realize she had. She almost screamed as it coursed from her hands, a shock of blue electricity that lanced upwards and struck the transport like a lightning bolt. 

A lightning bolt might have fizzled against the ship’s shields, but this was no ordinary lightning bolt. It was the raw energy of the Force, directed by her hurt and fear. It went right through the shields into the reactor core. 

Voices cried out in the Force as the transport exploded. 

Nova staggered back from the fireball in the sky as Rey and Finn were blown onto their backs. Pieces of the ship crashed around her like meteors. She stood there in disbelief, not fully comprehending what had just transpired. 

Rey scurried up onto her knees, staring at the flaming pieces on the ground. “Chewie!” She screamed. 

Nova then went ice cold. She had killed Chewbacca, Han Solo’s best friend, Kylo Ren’s uncle. He was in that ship with the clue and she had killed him. Inadvertently, perhaps, but she had done it all the same. 

“Rey! Finn!” Poe shouts from the ramp of Ochi’s ship, standing next to Anya. “We have to go! They’re coming!” He motions to the sky. First Order TIEs and transports dove at them in rapid fashion. 

Rey struggled with the words. “But Chewie . . .” 

“Guys, come on!” Anya frowned. 

The First Order ships were almost upon them. Finn got Rey and they both ran off to Ochi’s ship, entering the main hold of the vessel that was dark and dingy with sand covering the floor. 

Nova peered over her shoulder at Kylo, seeing his face upon the news that Chewbacca was in that transport and he was unreadable. Through the Force, however, he was miserable and the look in his eyes made Nova believe that nothing was ever going to be okay again. 

Ochi’s freighter lifted into the air and Nova focused on it, seeing the two cylindrical engines buttressed by a trapezoidal fuselage. The thrusters burnt a bright blue and a sudden flash of Nova being left on Jakku went before her eyes. 

Ochi’s ship was the very same one that her stepfather and mother left in when they sold her and Rey off to Unkar Plutt. And now, it was leaving her behind again but this time, it held her sister. 


	27. Only This Blade Tells

Rey sat on a crate, her hands intertwined in her lap as she kept on thinking about Nova and that unnatural power shooting from her hands. How it gripped the transport from the sky, only to blow it up before all of them in a blazing fire and smoldering pieces. Rey didn’t understand what had changed. What happened to her older sister to cause it? She sensed her fear through the Force, her desperation to claim the dagger from the Resistance. Nova was scared for her, for Finn. For them all. And it was that very same fear that caused that display of Force lightning. 

Finn sat next to her, letting her know that he was there within an arm’s reach and stayed in her quietness with her. He won’t prompt her to speak, or to listen to him speak, simply, Finn would just let her wallow in grief for a moment. And he would do that same for himself. Chewbacca became a good friend over the year since Crait; he learnt Shyriiwook in order to understand the hairy creature and even got himself pilot lessons. And in a moment, all of that was gone. 

C-3PO was mumbling his sad response in the news of Chewbacca’s departure while Freya was searching around the main hold and saw a small droid with a conical head and a treaded, wheel shaped body. Rust speckled its parts and it had dents everywhere, like it had been dropped or kicked. She called over BB-8, asking him if he could jumpstart the poor guy and the astromech extended his tool arm, sparking the smaller droid’s power cell. 

“Battery charged!” The droid said in a sped-up voice. It spun on its tread, rolling to look up at Freya. “He-Hello!” 

“Hello. What’s your name?” 

“I am D-O.”

“Nice to meet you.” Freya smiles at him as he begins following BB-8 around the hold. 

Anya came out of the cockpit with Poe, who was adjusting his pilots’ gloves and spoke. “We only got about eight hours left. So, what are we going to do?” 

“What can we do?” Freya eyes Poe. “We’re going to have to go back to base.” 

“We don’t have time to go back,” the pilot spoke gently. “We’re not giving up. If we do, Chewie died for nothing.” 

“Flyboy, Chewie had the dagger.” Freya reminds him, crossing her arms in front of her chest. “That was our only clue, our only way to the wayfinder. There’s nothing else.” 

“So true,” C-3PO said wistfully. “The inscription lives only in my memory now.” 

Poe and Freya turned to the droid, then to each other, then back. Anya, Finn, and Rey glanced over as well. “Hold on,” Poe began. “The inscription that was on the dagger is in your memory?” 

“Yes, Master Poe. But a translation from a forbidden language cannot be retrieved. That is, short of a complete redactive memory bypass.” 

“A complete _what_?” Finn detested techno jargon. 

“It’s a terribly dangerous and sinful act performed on unwitting droids by dregs and criminals.”

“Let’s do that.” Freya says. 

Anya mulled it over. “I know a blackmarket droidsmith.” 

C-3PO’s wistful tone turned worried. “Blackmarket droidsmith?”

Anya somblery eyed Poe, because he knew of her past unlike Rey, Finn, and Freya. “But he’s on Kijimi.”

Freya noticed the slight hesitation in the girl’s voice. “What’s wrong with Kijimi?” 

“I’ve had bad luck on Kijimi,” Anya frowned, then took a breath. “But . . . I’m willing to go back because I won’t let Chew Chew die for nothing.” 

Finn then stood, eyeing his little family. “We’re _all_ in this.” He then turned to Rey, holding his hand out to her. “Until the end.” 

Rey looked at his outspread palm, then to him. She took it into hers, interlacing their fingers and slid off the crate to stand. “Until the end.” She agrees. 

Offering his other hand out, Poe eyes it. “Hands?” 

“Hands.” Finn nods. 

Reluctantly, Poe accepts it. “For Chewie.” 

Anya took Poe’s free hand and watched as C-3PO clanked up right in between her and Freya, holding onto their fleshy hands with his metal ones. The droid’s grip was firm and surprisingly warm. “For the Wookie.” 

In that moment, Finn felt a glow around him. It was as if his faith in his friends and their faith in him gave him a newfound strength. He grins. 

“Kijimi.” Poe announces in a hurried tone, taking huge steps back to the cockpit. 

As the ship began moving, setting its course for Kijimi, the Night Buzzard stalked after. Following their course from a safe distance, calling to General Armitage Hux to let him know where the fugitives were heading to. 

The Steadfast remained in orbit while TIEs towed the Millennium Falcon into the incineration hangar, General Armitage Hux observing from above on the bridge while Nova stood next to him in silence. She kept staring down at the palm of her hand under the dimmed lights, BD-1 next to her and beeping an occasional “are you okay?”. 

“That power came from me . . .” She utters to the droid, shuddering at the thought as it kept replaying over and over inside of her head. Nova folds her fingers into her palm and places her thumb on top of her knuckles, creating a fist. 

Hux looks at her, seeing her fist and worried expression. “It’s quite alright, Nova.” He speaks her name and she meets his gaze. This had been a first, to hear her first name come from his lips. “Accidents happen, and the transport you destroyed was merely inconsequential. You got lucky. Follow me.” 

Hux led Nova down and to the door of a holding cell just outside the incineration hangar. She noticed how the reflective black floor was covered with dust and sand from Pasaana as he motioned for the door to open before them. 

Rising upwards, the door revealed a tall, shaggy being in manacles and next to him stood Captain Phasma. Seeing Hux and Nova, the Wookie let out a low groan which displayed his fangs and a smelly breath. 

Armitage grinned, turning and standing before Chewbacca while Nova remained still. “The beast that used to fly with Han Solo.” 

Chewbacca roared from behind him, Hux’s red hair blows forwards and he scrunches up his face, getting startled. 

Moving past Hux, filled with undeniable relief, Nova dove directly into the Wookie’s hairy chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. “I thought I killed you,” she sniffles into his fur and Chewbacca felt himself moan at her open vulnerability. “I’m glad you’re alright, Chewie.” 

The Wookie knew of this girl. She was the one that was speaking with Han on Starkiller, the girl that was Rey’s older sister, the Force sensitive that Leia believed would change Kylo into Ben Solo again. Chewbacca began to wonder of how she knew of him: was it because of Kylo sharing his childhood stories of the days when he used to call him Uncle Chewie? He wasn’t sure but what the Wookie was sure of, was that this girl clung to him desperately. 

Stepping back from him, Nova listened as Hux ordered for Captain Phasma to take him to Interrogation Six. Off the Stormtroopers and Phasma went. 

“And in more good news,” Armitage begins to say. “Elsie gotten fixed and will be able to—” 

Hux didn’t even get another word out before Nova cut him off with a hug of his own. It made him tense for a moment, such displays of affection were faulty and intolerable for a regime such as the First order. Armitage Hux was a general, afterall. Generals were supposed to hold order and command but then, such generals didn’t know what it was like to care for someone or to have someone care for them. 

Armitage slowly settled his arms around the smaller girl and gave her a brotherly hug. He had never quite known love before, and though Nova and him had moments of not seeing eye to eye, she never failed to show him compassion. And something like that gave him a sense of purpose. 

Clearing his throat, Nova lets him go and he dismisses himself as an incoming message popped up on his datapad. 

Alone in the hall with BD-1, Nova watches as Hux’s body and feet vanish from her sight and the area around her grows quiet. Within the silence, she’s suddenly and powerfully, thrown back into _that_ moment on Jakku. Her mother holds her tight and tells her to be brave as her stepfather comes in with Rey, letting her know that she’d be safe. He tells her how he was grateful to be in her life before passing her and Rey into Unkar Plutt’s arms. 

The scene shifts, the starship rises into the air, the twin thrusters blasting fuel. Rey screams for them to come back because she’s too little to understand that they were in danger. To little to understand that the only reason why they’re being left on the desert planet in the first place is because of—

Nova brings herself back to the present and breathes heavily, her body shaking. She needed to do something quick, to get her mind off of it before it consumed her like a living fire. Off she trots in the direction of where the training center was, BD-1 tagging along on the back of her heels. 

Anya’s back luck on Kijimi might be changing. She had found a route to the droidsmith’s workshop that stayed clear of the First Order’s checkpoints. The biggest challenge to the group would be skirting past the Stormtroopers who patrolled the city. 

She pulled the hood of her jacket tighter around her head as she hurried down the lantern lit street. It was cold in the mountain capital, colder than she remembered. It was also quieter, much quieter. She had just passed Monk’s Gate, and it seemed as if the silence of the monks who had built the place centuries before had returned. The Kijimi City Anya knew had abounded with a rowdy and rambunctious crowd even on snowy nights but that boisterous spirit seemed to be broken. The few Anya passed largey kept to themselves. Occasionally a face would peer out from a window of one the stone buildings, then quickly disappear. The city that had once celebrated its lawlessness had been subjected to the ruthless of laws. 

Martial law. 

The First Order had installed a garrison there to suppress rebel activity and prey on the population. Three legged walkers and their Snowtrooper complements were out in full force, harassing locals and raiding homes. One patrol ripped a daughter from her mother, no doubt to be taken to training facilities and brainscraped into one of the First Order’s loyal soldiers. This was what happened to Finn and Freya, years before. 

As the Troopers carried away the crying girl, Anya wished she could do something. But if she revealed herself, she’d put the Resistance in danger. If they were going to defeat this evil, they had to do more than outwit a Stormtrooper patrol; they had to bring about the downfall of the First Order. 

Anya slipped past another patrol and turned into an alcove where her friends and Poe waited. They all wore the long coats that Anya stole from a guildhouse. Rey and Finn shivered and exhaled clouds from under their hoods, BB-8 and D-O staying mostly out of sight at their feet. Freya stood next to C-3PO whose photoreceptors shone under his hood. 

“They’re everywhere,” Anya said, glancing at the Troopers who marched past. “We gotta find another way around.” 

“We should leave,” C-3PO suggested. Since arriving on Kijimi, the droid had reverted to his usual anxious state. 

“Clam it, Threepio.” Poe said. 

Anya thought about it for a moment, then, “Follow me.” 

The older girl led the group through the city, keeping to the back streets to avoid patrols. After a long and winding opath, they came to an alley, hiding behind a corner. 

“Okay, we can head down this—” 

A blaster muzzle sprang from the shadows and pressed into Anya’s neck which caused her to sigh heavily. “Heard you were spotted at Monk’s Gate,” the aggressor said, her voice filtered through a helmet processor. “I thought, ‘She’s not stupid enough to come back here’.” 

Anya recognized the blaster’s bronzium barrel just as he recognized the bronzium helmet and temperature-regulating body glove worn by her former partner. “Oh, you’d be surprised.”

Finn eyed the woman carefully and closely, stepping back with BB-8 and D-O. “What’s going on?” 

Rey was already placing her hand on her hip where her lightsaber hung. “Who’s this?” 

“This is Zorii,” Anya stated. “Zorii, this is Rey, Finn, Freya, P—”

Zorii didn’t let her finish. “I could pull this trigger right now.” 

“I’ve seen you do a lot worse,” Anya comments. 

“For a lot less.” Zorii’s finger quivered on the trigger. 

Anya pulled her hood down, slowly turning to her. “Can we just please talk about this?” 

“I want to see your brains in the snow,” she said. 

The polarized viewplate of Zorii’s helmet obscured her face, but Anya could tell she was ticked off enough that she might forget about their good times together and actually pull the trigger. “Look, I get you’re mad. But we could really use your help.” She pleaded. “We gotta crack open this droid’s head open and fast.” 

C-3PO, still under his hood, swiveled to stare at Anya. “Pardon me!” 

Anya apologized quickly and turned back to Zorii. “We need to find Babu Frik.” 

“Babu? Babu only works for the crew. That’s not you anymore.” 

“What crew?” Rey demanded. 

The bandit looked at Rey. “Funny, she never mentioned it. Your friend’s old job was running spice.” 

Freya grins widely. “So _that’s_ how you know about lightspeed skipping and hot wiring speeders!”

Finn stared at Anya in disbelief. “You were a _Spice Runner_?”

“Weren’t you both Stormtroopers?” Anya countered, falling back on sarcasm.

Rey wasn’t as amused. “ _Were_ you a Spice Runner?”

“Weren’t you a scavenger?” Anya quipped. “We can stand here, and do this all night if you want.” 

“You don’t have all night. You don’t even have now.” Zorii walked around her, keeping the blaster aimed at her head. “I’m still digging out of the hole you put me in when you left to join the cause.” 

“Zorii, please,” Anya begged. “Finn and Rey, they’re Jedi.” 

The woman snorts from under her mask. “Like I believe that.” 

“And they’re here on a mission in order to save us from something far worse than the First Order.” Anya finishes.

“And what possibly could be worse than that?” 

This time, Rey spoke. “Palpatine is back, and he has a Sith fleet.”

Finn then adds on. “A fleet where each ship has cannons that can take out an entire planet within seconds.” 

A sense in the Force tingled and Rey undid her lightsaber, the magenta beam glowing bright as she flung the hilt behind her and struck a Snowtrooper that had creeped up on them and was just about to dispatch a call on his comlink. It flew right back, landing into her grasp. 

Zorii was quiet for a moment, then said, “Not that you care, but I like you.” 

“I care,” Rey nods to her, deactivating her saber. 

Flurries of snow fell softly as they headed down the alley with Zorii leading, Anya and the others went after. 

Freya walked besides Anya, smirking and having fun with the recent news that she learned. “Anya Khan, Spice Runner.” 

“Don’t,” Anya whispered. 

Freya kept needling. “Runner of spice.” 

“ _Freya,_ ” Anya said, rather loudly. 

“Get your spice!” 

She was never going to live this one down. 

“This is the second best moment of my life. The first is learning that Poe used to be an Exotic Dancer.” Freya chuckles.

“ _Oh, alright,_ ” Poe rolls his eyes. Yeah, he wished that he never told her that one. A mistake on his part, really. But currently Poe Dameron didn’t care, he and his friends were about to discover the location of where the Emperor’s wayfinder was, and save the galaxy. 

Unbeknownst to any of them, as they made their way to Babu’s workshop, the Knights of Ren caught a sense of Finn and Rey’s Force wavelengths and they reported to General Hux once again. 

When Kylo learned of Chewbacca being alive and in an interrogation chamber, he visited. The Wookie was chained against the wall and once he saw the boy, it was unsettling. Their last meeting was when Han was killed, and that very same vision flowed through his brain. It hurt him, pained him because he was haunted and for some reason, he believed that speaking with the Wookie could somehow give him the opportunity to begin to heal. 

He withdrew his lightsaber and sat it aside, letting Chewbacca see that he had no intention of using it and squatted before him. The Wookie said nothing and neither had he, for a few good seconds. Then, it came out like word vomit. 

“I know you hate me for what I became, for what I did, and what I caused.” Kylo stares at the ground before him, trying to conjure up the courage to face him in the eye. “I don’t expect you to forgive me, but I just need you to understand that I thought I was doing what was asked of me.” A pause, and a gulp. “Snoke told me to kill what made me weak, and it was my past. He told and instilled in me—made me _believe_ —that in order to be what I needed to be, who I can be, that I had to kill who I was. And I would never be able to unless everything was dead and buried.” 

Tears swelled in his eyes and his hands turned into fists, Kylo sniffling gently as his hazel eyes finally peered into Chewbacca’s blue ones. Everything rushed to him in that moment: him being a child and climbing all over the tall Wookie, calling him Uncle Chewie repeatedly. Chewbacca teaching him how to shoot a blaster on targets and even allowed him to sit on his lap and push buttons on the Falcon’s console so he could pretend that he was flying the freighter. It was the main reason why he wanted to be a pilot, why he walked around with Han Solo’s golden dice. He wanted to be a pilot like his father, and told everyone that too. 

Kylo Ren loved his parents, and even after they became too busy for him and sent him off to Luke, he still needed them. It was his greatest weakness. Snoke knew it, and it’s why he wormed his way into Kylo’s young mind before he even began Jedi training. His body and mind was in flux, giving Snoke the perfect opportunity to mold and groom him in the belief that pain and anger is what should fuel power. To train him that he could be something better and to make something of himself because he shouldn’t be subjected to what others wanted him to be all while doing the very exact same thing to the boy. 

“I killed him,” Kylo seethes as tears fell from his eyes. “And it haunts me every time I try to sleep. I can still feel him touching my cheek, him asking me to come home. I can never do that. It’s too late, I can’t go back. I can’t go back to her.” 

_Leia._ Chewbacca already knew. 

When the Wookie learned from Leia that Kylo almost tried to blow up the Raddus’s bridge with her on it, Nova stopped him by giving him good childhood memories. It was the first sign that she was given since Han’s death that ignited that hope within her. Her son would return, some way or another but nonetheless, he would come home. Rey, Finn, and Leia believed it would be Nova to guide him, and if one thought about it long enough, it was true. As Rose would explain it, everything becomes a snowball. It starts with one little action and more fall on top of that one event, building and shaping, and eventually after it all piles, you get the end result of a perfect snowball. 

“I can’t change what I did, I know but I am trying to make things right,” Kylo whispers. “I killed Snoke, no one knows that except for Nova and Rey. And now, you. And I’m doing everything I can to try and stop what I saw in my vision.” 

That intrigued Chewbacca and he gave a low moan, matching the secrecy tone that was unleashed into the room. 

“Nova was on the throne of the Sith, and it’s located on Exegol.” Kylo informs the Wookie. “And I know that she’ll go if Rey does, which is exactly why we’re trying to stop you. It’s not to destroy the Resistance and let the Final Order kill every freeworld, it’s so Nova doesn’t succumb to her nature.”

Mock fighting the air proved just as effective as actually fighting in a simulation. Nova swung her lightsaber all around, doing different types of tricks, spins, and turns as the Force flowed through her like a river. Her signature move was swinging her lightsaber in front of her body then behind, switching it off into her left hand in a reverse grip and twirling it around her head and out before her. BD-1 watched her, trilling at her form and even scanned her here and there a few types, making note of her fighting style. 

On a twirl, Nova stops and sees Avellian standing at the door frame. She’d been so focused on herself that she didn’t even notice his presence. He raises his hands in surrender, a notion to symbolize that he didn’t mean to intrude and break her concentration. Stepping in her space, Avellian peers around to see BD-1 and her humming lightsaber. 

“Meditation training?” He speaks with interest. “Such a rare form of meditation, dated back to the days before the Empire. Before the Jedi Purge.” 

Nova nods, her blade deactivating. “Helps me clear my head, keeps me focusing activiely on anything else other than . . .” She falters with her words, growing quiet. 

“Other than what?” He smiles, his friendly appearance giving Nova confidence to tell him but still, a part of her didn’t want to. His lips fall into a frown, his eyebrows furrowing together. “Are you alright, Ms. Hux?” 

“Honestly,” Nova starts out to say, shaking her head. “No.” 

“I saw what happened with the transport,” Avellian states. “You conjured Force Lightning, an embodiment of wrath and fear and is strong enough to strike the heart of your enemy. The sustained exposure of it can roast the flesh, calcify the skeleton, and stop the heart.”

Nova was horrified by the knowledge and cringes at the mere thought, her once again peering down at her left hand. Was she really capable of doing that? Apparently so. 

“What were you thinking about when it happened?” He asked curiously. “You seem so lovely and stalwart, I would’ve never imagined that type of power coming from you.” 

Hesitation on Nova’s part and then, she tells him, “I wanted to keep the dagger away from my sister.” It wasn’t a lie, but it wasn’t the full truth either. 

Avellian’s eyes notice her shifting all of her weight off one foot and onto the other, a sign of being uncomfortable. “There was something else, wasn’t there?” He prods, stepping closer and Nova focuses on his kind eyes that were filled with peaked interest. “Something that’s terribly bothering you.”

 _No!_ A woman’s voice screams out in horror, echoing throughout Nova’s head and she recoils from the noise. Shaking her head, the girl refocuses back on Avellian who looked worried.

“I know that look,” he tells her, seeing her face turning pale and her eyes glistening. “What _are_ you hiding from, Nova?” 

Kylo Ren was walking through the Steadfast with Elise, informing her on what had happened on Pasaana. Elise was at a loss for words, eventually urging him to tell Nova the truth otherwise things would just fall apart. Once they turned a corner, they ran directly into Armitage. 

“Ah, good to see you about, Supreme Leader. Elsie, hello. Glad you’re in order.” He quickly greets the two, then clears his throat. “The Knights of Ren have tracked the Resistance fugitives to Kijimi. Evidently, one of the droids was able to translate what was written on dagger but was in need of a droidsmith to do so.” 

Elsie didn’t need her programming to know that Kylo’s expression dulled at the news. She knew him like the back of her cerebrum chips; every little detail and all inner workings that made the whole thing flow together and operate. He had a power source, a foundation, and most important, a function. And Kylo’s function had been, and always will be, to protect Nova. 

Eager as ever, Hux tried to take the advantage. “Shall we destroy the city, Supreme Lea—”

Kylo lifted one finger at the general, quieting him. “Set a course for Kijimi.” 

C-3PO was embarrassed. Some might say that would be an impossibility, because droids were not programmed for shame. But C-3PO possessed a protocol module that had evolved from decades of interaction with fellow beings. If he could assess anything, it would be an embarrassing circumstance. And sitting on an examination table with the back of his headplate removed and his parts showing was the definition of embarrassing. 

“I haven’t the faintest idea why I agreed to this. I must be malfunctioning.” He said to Rey. 

The young woman touched his shoulder and regarded him with a human expression of sympathy. “You’re going to be okay,” she said. 

The long whiskered droidsmith, barely as big as C-3PO’s head, hopped around an examination table, muttering in his own language while jamming wires into C-3PO’s exposed cranium. Bursts of electrical current generated a hum in C-3PO’s verbobrain that made comprehensive analysis difficult. Much preferable to all this would be a dip in the lubricant pool that bubbled in the corner. 

The bath was the only thing that looked inviting in Babu’s workshop, which was located in the back room of a seedy cantina. Random droid parts and equipment cluttered much of the space, filling shelves or hanging off the ceiling hooks. Rey and the others had to be careful not to trip over a wayward mouse droid or lean against a workbench that wasn’t just a workbench but an actual K1-RF maintenance unit. 

“Zorii, is this really going to work?” Rey asked the acquaintance of Anya, who disregarded custom and wore her helmet inside. 

Zorii spoke to Babu in his guttural tongue. The droidsmith answered as he soldered sockets on C-3PO’s head, but C-3PO couldn’t understand since his expanded language database had been disconnected. Fortunately, Zorii interpreted the answer. 

“Babu says he’s found something in your droid’s forbidden memory bank. Words translated from _Sith_?”

“That’s what we need.” Finn nods.

“Yeah.” Rey says. 

Zorii turned to look at Anya, who was sitting on the stairs with Poe. “Who are you hanging out with that speaks Sith?” Shock sounded in her filtered voice. 

Poe spoke before Anya could, standing. “Babu, can you make him translate it?” He points to C-3PO. 

Zorii posed the question to Babu in his language, who replied as he tinkered with C-3PO’s neural contacts. “Yes,” she confirms, “but doing so will trigger a complete—”

Her comment initiated C-3PO’s self preservation routine. He rotated his heads toward the humans and finished Zorii’s sentence with her. “Complete memory wipe.” 

Poe stared at the golden droid. “Wait, wait, wait. We make him translate it, he won’t remember anything?” 

“Droid, memory go blank,” Babu said in his pidgin Basic. “Blankblank.” 

“Oh, there must be some other way.” C-3PO commented. The last time he’d had a wipe, he had lost all memory of his maker. 

“Doesn’t R2 back up your memory?” Finn asked him. 

The consideration of what that implied threatened to short-circuit C-3PO’s central processor. “Oh, please. R2’s storage units are famously unreliable.” 

Rey then speaks, her expression sympathetic. “You know the odds better than any of us. Do we have a choice?” 

For a million microseconds, C-3PO heard nothing from anyone. Even Babu Frik ceased his muttering. 

“If this mission fails,” the golden droid stood, his power reserves straining to access memory of a recent event, “it was all for nothing. All we’ve done, all this time.” 

The droid angled his head toward Rey, Finn, Anya, Poe, and Freya. Poe seemed surprised. “Whatcha doing there, Threepio?” 

C-3PO brightened his photoreceptors. “Taking one last look, sir, at my friends.” 

D-O peers up to BB-8, muttering, “Sad.”

Seeing them before him, concerned for his safety, C-3PO received a surge of power that overrode his self preservation routine and briefly reconnectioned his linguistic database. 

“Ti’takka ollana,” he said to Babu Frik in his native Anzellan, and sat back down. “You may proceed.” 

As Babu began the procedure, C-3PO’s secondary processor, which had been running in the background, computed a workaround that would bypass the security routines for translation. 

“I just had an idea,” he says with hope. “There’s something else we could try—”

There was a spark and the optical register of his photoreceptors went dark. 

While Babu operated on C-3PO, Rey sat away from the action and snacked on berries she had plucked en route to the workshop. The sparks and sounds of Babu Frik’s thermtorch agitated D-O so much that he spun back and forth on his monowheel, his parts grating against each other from years of disuse. “Squeaky wheel,” he repeated over and over. “I have a squeaky wheel.” 

Rey rose, finding a lubricant bottle from a shelf. When she crouched down to D-O’s level, the droid shuddered. “It’s just oil. Won’t hurt, I promise.” 

She sprayed around his joints and in between his cooling vents. D-O didn’t have many complex parts, his design was simple and it reminded her of the kind that were sold in hobbyist kits. Rey would’ve loved to have built one as a kid. 

D-O started moving again, without the grinding noises. “Squeak eliminated!” He said. “Thank you, thank you. Very kind!” He made an appreciative squeal and ran rings around BB-8. It made Rey happy. 

Then she remembered what had happened to Nova, what she caused her sister to do. 

Finn walked over and nudged her. He knew what she was thinking, she was terrible at hiding it. 

She forced a smile again and watched D-O enjoy his freedom but a newer realization came to her. “I know where I’ve seen it, the ship he was on,” Rey said to Finn as D-O wheeled about them. “Ochi’s ship. It was when Nova and I were abandoned on Jakku. The day that our parents left, they were on that ship.” 

Finn seemed as shocked as she was. “Are you sure?”

She never got to answer him. Zorii, Anya, and Poe ran down the stairs from where they’d been keeping lookout on the rooftop. “There’s an incoming Destroyer.” Zorii spoke. 

“We gotta move now.” Poe states hurriedly. 

Anya looks to the small droidsmith. “Babu, did you get it?” 

“Droid is ready!”

Huge sparks from Babu’s thermtorch flickered C-3PO’s photoreceptors to life, then glowing a sinister red which startled the group. He stood from the examination table and spoke in a voice that didn’t sound at all like his, but was deeper and darker in tone. “The Emperor’s wayfinder is in the Imperial Vault. At delta three-six, transient nine-three, bearing three-two on a moon in the Endor system. From the southern shore. Only this blade tells.” His voice clicked and his photoreceptors switched off, him falling back onto the chair.

Freya dispelled the momentary confusion. “The Endor system? Where the last war ended?” 

The components in the workshop started to shake. Rey and Finn both rushed up the stairs to the rooftop, opening the door to see a massive First Order warship blocking out most of the night sky above Kjimi City. As it got closer, the more the rumbling and rattling increased. Droid pieces tumbled off shelves and fell from their ceiling hooks. 

The two Jedis stared up at the Star Destroyer. Finn sensed Kylo aboard, he could feel his worry and bubbling anger. “Ren’s Destroyer.” 

“He’s here?” Freya groans, rolling her eyes from the bottom of the stairs. “Doesn’t he have, like, other people to bother with his tantrums?” 

Not just Kylo. Rey felt Nova, her mind being exercised and another. “Chewie.” 

“What about him?” Poe asked. 

“He’s on Ren’s ship. He’s alive.” 

“What? How?” 

Rey spun, staring down at Poe and the girls. “He’s alive! “He must’ve been on another transport. I knew Nova couldn’t have killed him, I knew it!” 

“We’re gonna have to get him.” Finn comments. 

Zorii stood near Freya at the staircase and she glanced at Anya. “Your friend’s on that sky trash?” 

“I guess he is,” Anya says, letting slip a rare smile. 

A loud, electrical zap sounded from C-3PO. There was another click, and his photoreceptors illuminated to their normal yellow brightness. “Might I introduce myself,” he says, his well mannered accent having returned. “I am See-Threepio, human cyborg relations. And you are?” 

Everyone glanced at each other and no one reintroduced themselves. “Okay,” Poe motions towards him, “that’s gonna be a problem.” 

First Order Troopers seemed to be everywhere, yet Anya’s former spice running partner knew where to go to avoid them. Rey, Finn, Freya, Poe, BB-8, and even D-O kept up. C-3PO, as usual, lagged behind. 

“Threepio, move your metal ass. We’re almost there!” Poe yelled. 

C-3PO waddled down the alley on his stiff legs. “How dare you! We’ve only just met!” 

Zorii haltered at the mouth of the alley. She looked around the corner and then nodded to Rey that the area was clear. Rey, Finn, Poe, Freya, and the droids hurried out of the alley. 

Anya was about to go after them, but Zorii held her back. She handed her perhaps the most valuable thing she possessed, a First Order medallion. “Might get you on a capital ship. Go save your friend.” 

The medallion was a circular device embedded with circuitry. It transmitted a subspace code that gave a shp free passage through a blockade or landing rights at a First Order facility. Zorii had shown it to Anya when they were on lookout on Babu’s roof. She said that she was going to use it to take the blocked hyperlanes and find a home not occupied by the First Order. 

“I don’t think I can take that from you.” 

“I don’t care what you think, Khan.” Zorii placed it into her hand. “Go.” 

Hours earlier, Zorii had nearly killed her. Now she was sacrificing her future, and probably her life, to rescue Anya. Anya owed so much to Zorii. She had taken her under her wing and taught her all the tricks of the trade. Sure, they had broken a few laws together and ran spice with some crooks to make money for food and clothes, but she had helped make Anya into the girl who she was today. 

A squadron of TIE fighters passed by the Bestoon Legacy as they joined a stream of traffic flying in and out of the Steadfast.The medallion granted them the highest clearance levels as a supply ship for the First Order fleet. Freya was piloting with Poe in the copilot’s seat, approaching cargo hanger twelve of the Destroyer and landed without being harassed or contacted. 

The medallion didn’t curb all security measures. Two Stormtroopers came over to the ship when the ramp lowered. “Credentials and manifest—”

The Trooper didn’t finish his sentence, stunned by Anya’s blast. Poe silences the other one with a shot, hastening down the ramp with Rey and Finn while Freya, Anya, and the droids stayed behind on the ship. 

“Which way?” Poe questions. 

Finn looked around. The Steadfast has a slightly different layout than the Finalizer and the other Star Destroyers on which he’d served. The hangar itself was huge and contained a number of supply ships unloading cargo. He spotted a corridor that on the Finalizer would’ve led to the detention center, his instincts told him it would be the same on the Steadfast. “Follow me.” 

With the Force guiding them, the only main worry was that they were dressed in plain clothes and looked like they didn’t belong on a First Order Destroyer. This was most apparent when they bumped into two Stormtroopers rounding a corner. The pair immediately lifted their rifles. “Drop your weapons!” One ordered. 

Rey moved fast, waving her hand and spoke. “It’s okay that we’re here.” 

The Troopers stared at them for a moment, then the lead Trooper repeated what Rey had said. “It’s okay that you’re here.” 

His partner backed him up. “It’s good.” Both lowered their rifles. 

Poe leaned over to Finn. “Does she do that to us?” 

Finn knew Poe was joking so he just shrugged him off and took a step forward. “We’re looking for a prisoner. Tall, hairy, nasty temper. Had some belongings.” 

“You mean the Wookie?” The lead Trooper looked at his partner. “FN-8489, you brought one aboard.” 

“Barely,” FN-8489 defended. “The beast sent eight of our guys to the infirmary—and he had binders on.” 

“Where might he be detained?” Rey asked. 

“Cell six of the detention block, past the blast door at the junction, that way.” 

The three heeded the Troopers’ advice and continued down the corridor, shooting at any security camera they noticed that could monitor them. When they came to the blast door, Finn overrode the controls with an old First Order code. The blast door whooshed open. 

Only one officer was on duty in the detention block and Finn distracted him while Poe switched off the security cameras and then subdued the officer with a stun bolt. They took the badge from the duty officer and found cell six, opening the door. 

Upon seeing them, Chewbacca barked a question. Finn smiled. “Of course we came back for you!” 

Poe stood on watch as Finn and Rey assisted the Wookie up and out of the cell. The four hastened out of the detention center without incident, going back the way they came. 

“We’ve got Ochi’s ship,” Rey said to Chewie.

Coming into the junction, Rey crossed paths with a Stormtrooper. Not a second was wasted on the conversation, Rey fired at the Trooper and turned back. “Wrong way.” 

The four hurried down the other corridor, only to run into more Stormtroopers, who began firing. “Not really a right way, is there?” Poe shouts, knocking down some of the Troopers with his shots and slid a rifle to Chewbacca. 

The Wookie picked it up and they rushed down the passage, firing at any Stormtrooper in their way. 

“We close?” Poe asked. 

“Straight ahead,” Finn nods. 

The hangar was in view at the end of the corridor when Captain Phasma yelled, “Halt!” A flurry of blaster bolts flew around them and one struck Poe in the arm. He dropped his pistol and fell. 

Poe winced, clutching his arm. He lifted his head as Stormtrooper squads converged on them. 

“Drop your weapons!” Reluctantly, the three did as commanded.

Nova looked at Avellian who stood before her, holding a wooden polearm just like how she had. He mused for them to use nonlethal weapons for the sake of meditation and because he knew that a non Force sensitive wielding a lightsaber and trying to fight with one would result in him losing an arm, or a leg. She briefly told him a few pieces here and there of what was bothering her, and he finally came up with a verdict. 

“Considering how you were raised, I believe you hidden your trauma behind a mental wall.” He started out. “You remember more than you say. However, Nova, you just keep trying to bury it.” 

Nova tightens her grip on the polearm, her mind trying to slip back into her nightmare but she anchors herself out of it. 

“You were pushed in the desert and unleashed a dark power, having you believe that you killed an innocent. Imagine what could’ve happened instead?” Avellian says, his calming voice sending chills through her.

She did, she had. Nova thought about how that lightning could’ve easily struck Rey and Finn rather than the transport and turning the ground to shards of glass. 

Instantly, Nova shakes her head. “This is stupid, I’m sorry. I can’t do this. But thanks for trying to he—”

“General Hux told me about how you were abandoned on Jakku, how you said that that ship of Ochi’s looked familiar. How you were so sure of it being the exact same one that your parents took off in.” His voice changed, it became grim and stone cold. Avellian spoke with authority, his eyes deadset on the young girl and the atmosphere became heavy. “And Elsie, she says that when the one holographic projection you fought mentioned someone giving up their life to save yours, that your brain waves chemically produced anguish.” 

Her brain lit up like a fire, feeling fuzzy and Nova began to choke on words. Or was it fear of remembering what she hid from herself after all these years? “I don’t want this.”

“The more you understand it, the less that it controls you, Nova.” Avellian justifies the situation. “If it controls you, you’ll only lash out again and this time, it _will_ kill someone.” 

Nova was done with their conversation. Whatever he’ll say next would only confuse and harm her. She used her polearm, swinging the end at him and Avellian raised his to parry. The poles clang against each other, vibrations traveling up and into their arms. 

“Search your memory,” Avellian tells her. “Remember your parents. Hear them. See them.” 

Nova couldn’t resist. She listened. She looked. She remembered. 

Nova returned to the memory of being back on Jakku, in the tent except it’s before she’s in her mother’s arms and her stepfather, Erik, kisses her forehead. She’s there, looking up at her panting mother who was whispering to Erik about a man named Cassius and upon hearing the name, it sends a warmth throughout her lungs as if flowers were blooming and providing her with life. Cassius was the name of her birth parent, of her real father.

Nova pulled away from the memory. She also pulled apart their blunt weapons, propelling Avellian back but he was undeterred. 

“Before Snoke died, he told me that you had a connection with Supreme Leader Ren. Said that your brains are linked, and I find that very interesting.” A pause. “Elsie said that he saw something whenever you both first touched hands, when you physically bonded.” 

“Stop talking.” 

They circled each other like predators.

“He knows what happened to them.” 

What a lie! She lunged at him. Avellian blocked her attack but took a step back. She flew at him again, slashing her staff over him and under him. He backpedaled and parried in all directions, on the defensive. 

Nova saw how he stumbled a bit, and took the opportunity to attack. He brought his staff up and they crossed poles, their faces close to each other. “Use your connection with him, see what he has.” 

Without too much effort, she tugged on her link with Kylo and wiggled on the string of the moment when they touched hands on the Supremacy. 

A scene flashed in her mind. She saw the puckered face of a man who she automatically identified as Ochi of Bestoon because of Kylo’s knowledge of him. He stood in the passenger compartment of his transport, holding out his dagger at Nova’s mother and stepfather. “She isn’t on Jakku. She’s gone,” her mother said. Her lie was unacceptable to Ochi. He did the bidding of his master and stabbed Nova’s stepfather, and then her mother to death. 

Nova broke away from the scene and breathed heavily through her nose, dropping the polearm and BD-1 boop-beeps to ask if she’s alright. 

Avellian stands silent, then gently says, “Ms. Hux?” 

“I, uh, I need a moment.” She replies, heading out of the training center and BD-1 flys after. Avellian watched as she left, feeling sorry for the poor girl and sighs before letting his own polearm hit the ground with a thwack. 

Kylo Ren landed in the Steadfast, having made the short trip from Kijimi’s surface in a TIE Whisper. He opened the hatch and strode down the ramp alone. 

Nova stood in the middle of the hangar with BD-1, her hand lingering next to her hilt. He knew what Nova had seen, he felt her invading his mind but he welcomed it, not knowing what she was searching for until it was too late. She knew about her parents, about Ochi, and from what Avellian told them about Ochi going after a certain child, that’d be the next dot to pencil in. 

Kylo moved as Nova moved, like they were two stars sharing the same orbit. She stopped before him and he also stopped, knowing that she was waiting for him to speak. 

“Your mother and stepfather, they sold you to protect you from Ochi. From Palpatine.” 

“Why?” Nova demanded an answer, her voice wavering as she held back her sorrow. She now understood why, she just wanted to hear him say it out loud. “Why from Palpatine?”

“Because he saw what you would become. You don’t just have power. You have his power. You’re his granddaughter. You are a Palpatine.” 

Nova shuddered but did not seem otherwise shocked. He didn’t expect her to be. There were secrets in that mind of hers that she had tried to bury and forget, but the truth could not be buried. It could not be forgotten. 

“You knew this, both you and Elsie?” She sniffles. “Why did you hide this from me? Ben, this is who _I_ am.”

“No.” Kylo interjects swiftly, drawing closer to her. “You’re Nova. Just Nova.”

Her sadden eyes pained him and he wanted to tear away from them but couldn’t. His gloved hands reach out, searching for hers and once they connect, there’s electricity. 

“My mother was the daughter of Vader. Your father, Cassius, was the son of the Emperor,” he said, his voice low so only she could hear him. “We’re a Dyad in the Force, Nova. Two that are one.” 

A Dyad. It was the Sith phenomenon that occurred when two Force sensitive beings shared a unique Force bond with each other, connecting their minds across space and time. It was almost like a take on the Rule of Two but unlike the Rule of Two, a Dyad was made by the will of the Cosmic Force. Even the Jedi had their own spin on it called a Tandem, and from the looks of it, the Tandem was Finn and Rey. 

_Rey,_ Nova found herself thinking about. How she would never be able to face her again because of her, their mother and Rey’s father was murdered. Because of her, Rey never got a normal childhood. Because of her, Rey got into all of this mess. It was Nova’s fault, everything began with her and she was the root of all problems. 

“Ben,” Nova utters. “I don’t know what to do . . . I don’t even know myself anymore, and I’m starting to believe no one does.”

“I do. I know you.” Kylo whispers, his voice soothing and calming. “I’m a part of you, as you are of me. From the moment we were born, we were a part of each other.” 

As much as Nova wanted to believe that, as much as she would try to will herself to, it was false hope. She endured so much all by herself, and this moment, finding out who she really was, was another moment of endurance. 

She was Nova Palpatine.


	28. Death Star

Finn faced a wall, arms behind him. Rey and Poe stood on either side of him, Chewbacca on the other side of Poe, all doing the same. 

“Terminate them,” General Armitage Hux had said before handing them over to a Stormtrooper squad to do the deed. 

They were in a small room, jets built into the walls. Finn knew that once dead, those very same jets would release heat and toxins to break down their remains. A team would then come in, vacuuming up what was left behind and the chamber would be neat; good as new. 

Each and every sound Rey heard gave her a countdown to her death. Boots clacked on the floor behind him as the firing squad took up position, blaster safeties were unsnapped, and armor plates jiggled when rifles were raised. Rey didn’t dare to look at Finn or Poe, or even Chewie. She didn’t want the last thing she saw to be fear on their faces. 

Poe leaned in to Finn,. “You going to tell her?” 

Rey’s eyes shift over, staring at the pilot before lingering to Finn who still looks straight ahead, and sighs. He shushes the older man by a few years. Poe then gave him an expression that Rey could only explain as annoyance. 

“Oh, _I’m_ sorry.” The pilot sarcastically says. “Is this a bad time?” 

“Yeah. It sorta is a bad time, Poe.” Finn looks at him. 

Chewbacca groans, complaining that he was hungry. And that he was doing to die on an empty stomach. 

“Later doesn’t really look like an option” Poe bickers at Finn. “If you’re gonna let something off your chest, maybe now’s not the worst time to tell Rey how you actually feel.” 

“What?” Rey raised a brow. 

Finn turned his head to her, taking in a deep breath. Poe was right, they weren’t going to have a later. It was now, or never. And he didn’t want to die without telling her what was on his mind, what was in his heart. “I wasn’t completely honest with you, back in the tunnels. I mean, I do care about you but that’s . . . That’s not what I actually was trying to tell you.” 

“Then what was?” 

Rather than saying it, Finn leaned in and planted a sweet kiss on her lips. He was never good with words anyways. 

“See, there we go.” Poe nods, sarcasm flowing through his words and faces forwards at the wall again. “Finn gets his romance, and I get to hear a Wookie complain about not having eaten anything.” 

Chewie roars at Poe. 

Finn pulls back, a small smile on his face. Rey gives him one in return and she wanted to hold onto him, to be in his embrace as they met their deathly end. But the tingle of his lips still lingered, and she was at least happy she got that to carry her over into the next life. 

Blaster bolts rang out and Finn shut his eyes. When he heard the thud of bodies that weren’t his own, he peeked over at his friends. Poe, Chewbacca, and Rey were still standing, still breathing, still alive. Finn spun around with them. 

Three Stormtroopers of the firing squad lay sprawled at the feet of two, with blaster bolt sized holes in their armor. The Troopers removed their helmets, revealing Freya and Anya. “We couldn’t let you all have the fun.” Anya remarks playfully.

Poe pointed at the girls and smiled. “I _knew_ it was you two!” 

Finn shook his head. “No, you did not.” 

“We don’t have much time.” Freya steps up and uncuffs them from their bindings. “And you’ll never believe what we found.” The woman grins from ear to ear. 

The group fled the chamber, Anya and Freya dawning the helmets again and acted as if they were leading the group somewhere else on the Steadfast. 

If there was time to spare, Rey would’ve made the effort to find Nova and course her to join them. To tell her that she could still join them, because they need each other like how they always have. But the Emperor’s fleet would not wait for them to reconnect, they’ll launch their attack quicker than anything. And Rey had to put the galaxy first from Palpatine before her own sister. 

Making it to a blast door, Freya opens it hurriedly and the smell of engine fuel fills Rey’s nostrils. In the hangar beyond sat the Millennium Falcon. 

“She’s a survivor.” Poe comments and runs right towards the freighter. The group followed right after. 

“Friends ahead.” 

“Oh yes! There they are!” A haughty electronic voice said. 

Rey focuses at the Falcon’s ramp, where C-3PO, BB-8, and D-O wait. The golden droid had Chewbacca’s bandolier hung across his chest and he hefted the bowcaster and satchel in his metal arms. She thought the droids were still on Ochi’s ship but it made sense that after the droids stole the Trooper suits that they went on their adventures, retrieving Chewbacca’s belongings, finding out about the Falcon being here and told the droids to stay there until they came back. 

Rey heads up to C-3PO, carefully taking the satchel from him and peers in to see the dagger. Something told her that they would need it. Quickly, she shooshes the droids up the ramp and into the main hold. 

Inside the cockpit, Poe began setting their course to Endor’s moon and Chewbacca joined him in the copilot’s seat, getting ready for takeoff. Anya and Freya were still dressed in the Stormtrooper attire, checking to make sure that the First Order didn’t install unwanted devices that would ruin their daring escape.

“All set, Poe! Get us out!” Finn shouts as he closes the ramp. The ship rises into the air. 

In an instant, Stormtrooper squads began filing in, opening fire on the Falcon. Their blasters hitting vital components and flames burst on the freighter’s hull, smoke and steam billowing from pipes. 

Poe spun around so the engine thruster banks faced the portal and he yanks down on the lever, the thrusters blazing at full burn, blasting a superheated wind into the hangar. Cargo crates and Stormtroopers were yanked into the air and out of the hangar. The freighter then flew off, disappearing into the dark of the Kijimi night and into hyperspace. 

No alerts were sounding at proximities and Poe became worried, flipping a few switches and Chewbacca voiced the same concern. The pilot shakes his head. “I don’t know why they’re not following us, but I don’t trust it.”

Finn entered the lounge to find Rey reaching into an upper access panel, making repairs. The Stormtroopers blasters had done a number on the Falcon’s exposed componentry. Miraculously, what hadn’t been damaged was the Falcon’s notoriously faulty hyperdrive. During the hyperspace journey, the crew hurried to make emergency repairs so that when the Falcon emerged from lightspeed, it wasn’t a smoking wreck. They were in such a rush Poe had only applied basic first aid to his blaster wound. 

But Finn was less worried about the state of the Falcon than he was about connecting together the pieces of what he knew from Rey and from Luke’s translated annotations. 

He walked over and helped Rey with the repairs. After a few minutes of tightening tribolts, he told her what was on his mind. “You said that Nova was your half sister, right?” 

“Has a different father, yes.” Rey tells him, not really focusing on him as sparks flew as she fused a frayed connection. 

“And you saw your parents fly off in Ochi’s ship.” He said. 

She nods, still working on the panel. 

“Lando told us that Ochi was trying to find Cassuis’s child, the last remaining member of Palpatine’s that was Force sensitive. He told me that the child was a daughter.” 

Rey looked off, as if struck by something. Realization was dawning on her of it all, the Force feeling thick with tension. 

“Rey,” Finn eyed her sadly. “What if Nova’s—” 

“It doesn’t matter.” Rey cuts him off, pressing the panel closed. “She’s still my sister. We still have the same mother, that’s all I care about.” 

She wasn’t giving him the cold shoulder or disregarding what he was saying, she understood perfectly and took in his considerate words but none of that made an impression. Who cares if Nova’s father was the son of the Emperor? She surely didn’t. Nova has been, and always will be, her family. Nothing was changing that. 

Without another word, Rey pecked Finn’s cheek kindly to let him know that she was appreciative of his efforts which earns her a smile. The both of them turn, heading straight for the cockpit. 

Friendless as a boy, and never knowing his mother, Armitage Hux had found comfort and strength in his father’s stories of the glorious Empire that had brought order to the galaxy after the chaos of the Clone Wars. Yet as proud as Brendol Hux was of his own Imperial service, he had no such pride in his son. He’d say that Armitage would never make anything of himself. He was stupid. He was weak. He didn’t have a spine. And then Armitage would endure a slap that turned into a smack that often became a pummeling. 

Hux promised himself at an early age he would show how wrong his father was about him. If a senator from Naboo could rise from obscurity to lead the greatest military power the galaxy had ever seen and become Emperor, he could do the same. He could be the one to bring order to be chaos sown by the New Republic. He could be the savior, and ruler, of the galaxy.

His ability more than matched his ambition. He had quickly risen through the First Order’s ranks to become its youngest general, championing advanced weapons programs like Starkiller Base, the orbital autocannons, and also overhauled the Stormtrooper training program that his father had begun. Those accomplishments won Hux the favor of the former Supreme Leader, and the rank and file soon viewed him as Snoke’s logical successor. No one was more loyal to the vision of the First Order than General Armitage Hux. 

Then came Kylo Ren. 

Riding the lift to the hangar, Hux bristled at the very thought of his nemesis. Ren had no military training and held no actual rank, yet Snoke had taken him under his wing and taught him his infernal powers. The Dark Side, Snoke had called it. With those powers, Ren had been transformed into a one man Starkiller, terrifying the galaxy at large. 

Hux had made a grave mistake overestimating Snoke’s sway over the young man and underestimating Ren’s powers. Hux had thought Ren too volatile, too involved in his own maniacal pursuits to try to take command of the First Order. But then Ren had done just that, murdering his master and assuming the role of Supreme Leader. Now he was turning the First Order into his personal combat force to carry out his bidding for his recent crusade. The search of Nova’s real father, where she came from.

Hux had no reason to understand why Ren was in such a hurry to figure it out, it was apparent to him that Nova’s family had become the First Order. She was a Hux, took on the name and accepted it. That’s all that truly mattered, nothing else, nothing more. 

Exiting the lift, Hux crossed the hangar and eyed the injured Stormtroopers and crates that had caught on fire. He bit his tongue, his shoulders squared as other Troopers tried to extinguish the fires and medial droids picked up the wounded and took them to the infirmary. Avellian was there, directing squads to go to this and that area while he pulled up footage on his datapad. He joined the man. 

On surveillance, Hux was able to make out Poe, Finn, Rey, and the others sneaking through the corridors and having grabbed Chewie’s belongings, which included the dagger. They primed the freighter, taking off. 

“They took the dagger,” Avellian eyes Hux. “Shouldn’t we go after them and take it back?” 

“No need,” Hux grins, peering up and over, scanning the area and catching sight of Elsie. She was reading off vitals of the injured, informing the droids on what they needed to do to nurse them back to health. “Elsie! You translated the dagger as requested, correct?” 

The cyborg heads over, managing a nod. “Yes, I have.” Her voice wasn’t as robotic as it was before but she did pause when pronouncing every word which made her sound sophisticated. 

“Excellent. Then we already know where they’re headed and where the Emperor’s Wayfinder is.”

The blast door opens and Kylo struts in with Nova directly at his side, and with BD-1. Nova looked like an emotional wreck and Armitage felt himself getting upset. Had the young man done something to her to prevent such a look of sadness on her face. 

“Ms. Hux, are you alright?” Armitage instantly steps up to her, practically forcing his body in between her and Kylo. “Are you hurt?” 

Elsie computes her body language, her brainwaves, and she pulls a frown on her lips. “She knows . .” 

Avellian eyed the cyborg, confused. “Knows what?” 

“I’m the granddaughter,” she utters and they all look at Nova. “I’m the granddaughter of Palpatine. I’m Nova Palpatine.” 

Armitage was completely baffled, his blue eyes widening. The girl that he stumbled into all those years ago and who he originally thought was annoying was the family member of the very man he idolized. 

“Is that what you’ve been hiding from yourself all this time?” Avellian now steps up to the girl and reaches for her hand. 

Kylo couldn’t explain it but at that moment, Avellian seemed off a little bit more than usual and he tore the man’s hand from Nova. He scowled at him, showing him that he had no fear as he stared directly into his soul. And there it was, something very odd and pungent about him. Normally if Kylo focused hard enough, he was able to peer into anyone’s mind and gain an ounce of information but with Avellian, there was nothing. He didn’t trust the man anymore, not that he did before, but the fact of him knowing that Nova had been hiding from her past irked Kylo beyond disgust. 

“I highly suggest that you don’t speak to her unless I’m around.” He states, his voice unwavering. 

“Supreme Leader Ren, she wouldn’t even know who she was if it weren’t for me.” Avellian says calmly, his voice maddening to Kylo. The next part, he said in a low whisper. “I thought that’s what you were doing here.” 

Before Kylo could say anything back, he saw Nova walking towards the ledge of the hangar and she was close—dangerously close. He moves around Avellian, giving a scowl before walking towards the black clad silhouette of the young scavenger. 

Kijimi’s cold and crisp wind blew Nova’s hair since the magnetic containment field had been turned off since they were still in the atmosphere. She peered down, as if contemplating a jump, then looked directly to the sky where the Millennium Falcon had disappeared into lightspeed. 

“They took Ochi’s dagger,” she comments, feeling Kylo’s presence approaching from behind her. “They’re going to get the wayfinder.” 

“Elsie translated it,” he informs her, having been told this before Hux announced that the Resistance was in Kijimi City. “The Emperor’s wayfinder is in the Imperial Vault.” 

“Imperial Vault?” On the turn of her heel, she eyes Kylo. “But all the vaults have been raided on Coruscant. Palpatine didn’t have any others.” Nova’s voice then dies down as she begins thinking, her hands getting sweaty from wearing her gloves all day. 

In Sith teachings, the leaders would always keep artifacts close to them at all times. When the Empire began in Coruscant, Palpatine kept his items there. Darth Vader had his own castle on Mustafar which held his Sith Wayfinder. Darth Plagueis kept his items in his own room, in a chest that was hidden unless you found a panel that undercovered the hiding place. So if Palpatine did have the wayfinder from all those years ago . . . 

Nova’s eyes shift upwards. “It’s in the second Death Star.” 

At the Falcon’s helm, Poe and Chewbacca avoided any collisions with the gas giant of Endor and the numerous satellites that circled it, which was no small feat for a ship with busted engines. They even managed to stay out of detection range of the First Order Star Destroyer that guarded the system. But once they reached the moon Kef Bir, a rough weather pattern sent the Falcon in an uncontrollable descent. Repairs to the landing gear and its repulsors hadn’t been completed, so there was no way to cushion a hard landing. A full on crash was only averted when Poe pulled back on the yoke and skidded the Falcon for kilometers along a grassy plain, leaving a deep gouge behind it. 

Rey and Finn led the droids, Chewbacca, Freya, Anya, and Poe out of the Falcon and across the grasslands. 

They hadn’t walked far when they ascended a hill and came to the edge of a cliff. Beyond them tossed a mighty ocean that vanished in a dense stormy haze. Spray hit their faces from huge tidal waves pounding against the cliff. 

Rey stood in awe of the endless swell of water. She’d seen the ocean on Ahch-To, but it hadn’t tolled with such raw violence. The haze in the background broke, disclosing an even more incredible sight. A mountain of curved and jagged metal protruded from the waves in the distance. 

“What-what-what is that?” D-O asked. 

“It’s the Death Star,” Finn says. “A bad place from an old war.” 

The Empire’s second battle station had orbited Endor thirty years earlier as an artificial moon. It had still been under construction when the Rebel Alliance took the majority of their forces there in a last ditch attack to defeat the Empire. The Millennium Falcon, flown by Lando Calrissian and Nien Nunb, headed the squadron that destroyed the Death Star. 

“It’s gonna take us years to find what we’re looking for.” Poe comments, eyeing the entire crash site. 

Rey stared at the sharp and serrated chunks of the Death Star. One jutting beam called to mind a similar shape. “Only this blade tells . . .”

She stook Ochi’s dagger from the satchel and examined it. Something poked from the crossguard of the hilt. She wiggled it and pulled out a slim, arc shaped extension. 

An idea came to her. She held up the dagger, placing it on the same eyeline as the jutting Death Star beam, The double arrowheads of the blade fit into the contours of the wreckage like a puzzle piece. The arc shaped extension worked like a direction guide on a compass, pointing at a collapsed tower. 

“The wayfinder’s there.” 

“How do we get to it?” Anya asks, watching fifty meter tall waves smash against the wreckage. “You guys see that water?” 

“We can fly over there with the Falcon, but we need to fix it. Spread out, search for parts.” 

“I think I saw an old First Order cruiser on the west ridge before we crashed.” Freya comments. “That’s probably our best bet.” 

“Perfect.” 

The group split up but Rey still looked ahead at the Death Star, Finn staying by her side as more ocean mist glistened their faces and the fabrics of their clothing. 

Finn then began feeling a pull, it was lugging him along. He walked off, heading to where the Force needed him and once he saw what it wanted him to see he called out to Rey. She hurried over, heading up behind him to see a fishing skimmer that settled down below on a little ridge where the sea was calm enough to sail out to the wreckage. As a team, Finn knew that they could manage and with a look at Rey, he could already tell that she was aboard with the plan. 

Nova tried to get Kylo to stay behind and not follow her to Endor’s moon but he was keen on not listening to her advice and heading there anyway. Armitage had given her a proper goodbye, words and all which made the girl grateful for his wishes. 

Elsie was next, and she went in for a hug. Nova held her tight and the cyborg focused on Kylo as his own stare lingered on them before removing themself to focus on the Troopers preparing the TIE Silencer that the two young adults would be taking to Kef Bir. She comments into Nova’s ear, “He’s a sensitive boy, you’ve seen that.”

Nova had. The nightmares of his and his many tantrums over the years that she took in stride, never judging him for it. It was a part of his trauma and nothing like that should be scolded for. Kylo never quite learned how to act out his emotions in a healthy way but Nova just wished that could.

“He craves your strength, and I think, that’s why he’s taken so with you.” Elise finishes, letting Nova slip from her robotic arms that were covered in synthetic skin. The girl just nods in silence, Elise giving her one last smile and wishes her good luck. 

Nova peers over her shoulder at Kylo, noticing the way that his black hair was perfectly wavy and his scar a vivid pink line that just seemed so natural now. Deep within her, as she stared at him, she knew another secret and perhaps that was more scary than anything—more scarier than coming to terms that she belonged to the Palpatine bloodline. 

Avellian steps up beside Nova, seeing her gander at Kylo Ren and gives her an appreciative nod. “He does love you.” 

She frowns instantly, her stare drifting right back down to her boots and is able to see her pudged face staring back up at her. The girl in the floor looked sad, still broken, and lonelier than ever. 

Avellian takes in her slumped shoulders, her expression that reflected in the glossy black ground. “That’s what you fear the most, isn’t it? People caring about you? Because everyone who ever did met their end?” 

Closing her eyes, Nova lets in a deep inhale and exhales through her nose. Eyelids peeling open and meeting Avellian’s piercing gaze, she nods slowly. “My mom, my stepfather, Bylsma, could’ve lost Elsie as well . . . And there’s Rey and of course, Ben, they can still get hurt. And I don’t want either one of them to suffer anymore because of me.” 

“But that’s the main aspect of love, Nova.” Avellian starts to say and she listens intently to what he was going to say next. “The people that we care about the most, are the very same things that ultimately destroy us in the end.” 

BB-8 and D-O stood watch outside the Falcon and amused the native orbaks that were four legged tusked and wooly beasts while Anya and Freya hammered new armor plates to the hull. In the cockpit, Poe and Chewbacca messed with circuity and ordered C-3PO on simple errands; fetching hydrospanners, Harris wrenches, and spacer’s tape. Back to his old self, C-3PO commented how absurd it was for a protocol droid to be doing starship maintenance. 

“Did we ever find his volume control?” Poe asked Chewie, making the Wookie laugh. 

Freya entered the Falcon, getting on her hands and knees to fix the landing gear with an O-6 rez plate. She opened up the gear drum and examined where the rez plate should go. She slid it into the drum, the piece fitting perfectly as she still heard Anya’s echoing poundings at the hull. 

BB-8 zoomed past her into the cockpit, beeping up a storm. “What do you mean you haven’t seen them?” Freya hears Poe question. 

She stands up, seeing BB-8 speeding into the corridor and out of the Falcon, followed by Poe. Freya went after with Chewbacca and Anya too. 

Poe ran up on the hill to the cliff’s edge, staring out at the choppy sea. He grabbed his quadnoculars, placing them up to his eyes, them humming as he adjusted magnification. At last, his gaze was met with Rey and Finn manning a sea skimmer. It bounced over the surf, one repulsor smoking, the other one barely pushing the skimmer above water. To maneuver through the turmoil, Finn manipulated the skimmer’s rudders and pulled a winch, swinging the outrigger over his and Rey’s head as she steered. It would smash into the water on the other side and stabilize the craft until another wave forced him to do it again. 

“They’re out there, heading toward the Death Star. The skimmer keeps tipping over—it’s damaged.” 

Anya spied a dark speck far in the distance. A wave crashed and washed it from view. “We going to go after them?” 

Poe lowered the quadnocs. “We’ll fix the Falcon and get out there as fast as we can. That’s the only thing we can do.” 

Finn and Rey landed on a deck of the Death Star with a jarring thump. Finn’s ears popped and Rey hacked up water from the one wave that had knocked them off their skimmer, tossing them into the water. A coughing fit seized her until she finally wheezed a breath. She rolled around to see another wave rise above her and Finn, seconds from breaking. She shouts to warn Finn, the both of them pushing themselves up and stagger into a run. Finding a turret pylon, they wrap their arms around it right as the wave smashed into the deck. 

After the water washed away, Rey and Finn were still standing, hugging the pylon. Rey peered down to see the path they needed to take, indicated by the dagger’s crossguard.

The two carefully slid down the splintered hull. The terrain was treacherous inside, with sharp metal shafts and chasms severing corridors. But Rey had grown up traversing the interiors of crashed starships on Jakku, so she was innately familiar with this environment. Finn, however, wasn’t. Most of his help came from the power of the Force as he climbed, leapt, and crawled through the wreckage with Rey. 

When they scaled a turbolift shaft and emerged in a chamber with a high backed chair before a shattered viewport, they knew that they had entered the Emperor’s throne room. 

Finn moved closer until the deck plate beneath him broke under his weight. He steps back, avoiding the chair at all costs and Rey notices a spoke handle on the wall. Her eyes scanning along it to see an outline of a door. 

“The Imperial Vault.” 

Rey steps up to it, trying to turn the handle but it wouldn’t budge. Finn then tried but it was no use. Perhaps, Rey thought that it could only be opened by the Force and she and Finn tried. It still wouldn’t budge and Rey grew upset. Had all of this been for nothing? 

“You can’t open it,” the voice makes Rey and Finn whip around faster than anything. There stood Nova with her long brown hair damped by the ocean’s mist and her outfit and cape soaked. “It’s a biocoded entry. Only the grandchild of the Emperor can retrieve the wayfinder.” A pause, a rather sad one. “Only I can open it.” 

“Nova,” Rey began to say but that was all that came out. What could she say? She sensed that her sister knew the truth, and also felt how she took blame for all of it. 

“It’s alright, Rey.” Nova tries to give her a smile but her little sister could tell it was forced. “It’s who I am. I have to do this, just me. Not you.” 

Within an arm’s reach, the spoke handle turned of its own accord, opening a set of hidden doors which released hissing steam that blew back her hair. Nova walked through the doorway into a hallway, Rey trying to follow after but the doors shut before she could get the chance. 

Around her she saw fragments of herself. An arm. The side of her face. The hem of her black cape. All reflected in the broken mirror that lined the walls. It felt like a mockery of her past, tearing her innocence apart and never quite putting back the child that was left on Jakku for her safety. She quickened her pace, wishing to leave as soon as she could. 

At the far end of the hallways, floating in the air above a pedestal, was a small pyramidal object, glowing green with a blinking red dot in the center. 

Nova stopped before the pedestal and lifted her hand, hesitating for a moment then took the wayfinder. It was an old and fragile artifact, archaic runes and star chart symbols inscribed in the black glass of the pyramid’s sides. A route to the lost world of the Sith, to _Exegol_. 

She turns, about to walk away but finds herself in a grey and barren landscape, dust and particles obscuring her vision. Above her, chunks of rock and boulders float in the sky. There were jutted pillars of rock that poked up and out of the ground, forming a walkway that led to somewhere. Around her in a perfect circle was light as if the ceiling had opened just above her. There were cracks in the walls, shining in a ghostly white line that seemed to glitter upon seeing it. 

A dread came over her. Not of where she had been transported to, but of knowing that she wasn’t alone. 

Footsteps echoed throughout the place and Nova glanced all around, trying to listen in to where it came from. A figure approached, wearing clothes that were beige and tan, and they held a quarterstaff in their grasp. As the person came into the ring of light, joining Nova, shock was written on her face. 

The figure was of her stepfather, Erik. He was pale and stark, his eyes were soulless and he was holding a normal wooden pole. Was this a memory of how he taught her how to play fight with sticks? No. Because if it had been, he would’ve been smiling and laughing. Whatever this was, it was feasting on Nova’s memory and digging its sinister claws into it. 

“Nova.” His Coruscanti accent thick, booming across the plain, reminding her of Rey’s own dialect. “I see you’re still incompetent.” 

She shakes, gulping as her stepfather raises his quarterstaff and aims it at her. Yeah, no—this definitely wasn’t her memory. It was a sick, twisted version of it. 

He swings the end of the quarterstaff at her but she ducks, dashing out of the way and behind him. Erik quickly maneuvers, whipping the end of the staff around his body and Nova gets hit. It doesn’t hurt but she does feel the impact of it, making her stumble backwards. 

“You lack discipline.” 

Her stepfather, or at least the phantom of her stepfather, rotates back around and whirls the staff around in his calloused hands. Nova didn’t want to fight him, no matter what sinister force was behind it and she tried to flee but it seemed as if she couldn’t leave the halo of light that surrounded them. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. She could only duck and dodge, but how long could this last? That was the real concern. 

“Your will is weak.” Erik charges forwards, lashing out with the staff but Nova avoids getting hit, diving under a blow and slides down onto her knees. 

In the midst of standing, he lands a blow to her back and she lands forwards, straight on her stomach and face. Finally caving into what the landscape and what the phantom of Erik was waiting for, Nova reaches for her hilt and gets back onto her feet. She ignites her red blade, the glowing illuminating the area much more. 

They crossed the ends of their weapons back and forth, dueling in the circle. Nova tried to go on the offensive, but whenever she risked a thrust or a jab, Erik mirrored her move, as if he already knew what Nova was going to do.

Blocking her attacks with his quarterstaff, Erik countered with the very same techniques she tried. On one strike, he propels Nova off and her lightsaber blade spits sparks as he does. “You will always be weak.” He muses. 

Nova then went for it, opening herself up to anything of life surrounding her in this area and twirls her lightsaber around the back of her. They clash once, twice, and then for a third time. She then blocks a blow from the left of her, then the right, and when he tries to hit her directly, she bats his staff upwards. The momentum causes him to release his blunt instrument, it flying from his hand and him stumbling over his own two feet. 

When the opportunity was presented to her, Nova dropped the wayfinder from her left hand and double handed her hilt. With a grunting yell, she stabs upwards and into his chest. The tip of her red blade went right through him as if he were a hologram from her training simulations but the blade sparks viciously as if it struck duraplast. 

Nova realized what she had done, instantly feeling guilt coursing through her. Subconsciously, this moment was symbolizing the very belief and thought that was in her head as well as her heart.

And Erik spoke it outloud. 

“Yes. My blood, and your mother’s, is on your hands, Nova.” 

Her hazel eyes glisten as they begin searching his for mercy—for forgiveness but there was nothing there. There never would. She tries to remove her blade back by withdrawing her hilt but Erik clasps her hands around it tightly, keeping it in place as she struggles to fight off his well fortified hold. 

“You _are_ a failure. A weakling. A killer. A _traitor_.” 

Nova squeezed the hilt tremendously, trying to pry herself away from Erik as more tears filled her eyes. She desperately wanted to get away, now more than ever, but he wouldn’t let her. He was keeping her there to listen to what he had to say. The final words from beyond the grave. 

“You _belong_ to the Sith.” 

“ _No!_ ” Nova screams, her voice bouncing off the walls and reverberating into her ear drums. The whole room shakes and the webcracks break open, letting blinding white lights into the entire dim and desolate place. 

She’s back in the hallway of the Imperial Vault, no longer seeing Erik or her red beaming blade. Instead Nova hears something crackling down below her earline, in her hands and takes a gander. Her lightsaber hilt was damaged from her squeezing it tightly, a few wires exposed and the metal dented in the shapes of her fingers. Nova’s strength, and her fear, had broken her lightsaber. She no longer had a weapon, just the Sith Wayfinder. 

Outside in the throne room, Rey kept on trying to part the doors but it was no use. Nothing of her brawn within the Force could make that vault open up to her. Anger began to swell in her like a balloon, just waiting for a pin to pop it and let out everything that it held out. The Force became a vortex and Rey knew that it wasn’t just the nasty ocean that pummeled the sides of the old Death Star, it was whatever was happening to Nova inside and something else. Something that _didn’t_ belong; filled with malice and devilment. 

“You feel that?” Rey freezes, asking Finn in a hushed tone. 

Finn felt for what she was picking up on and the wrath that was there nearly windswept him off his feet. It was the exact same feeling that spread throughout the Corellian auction just before the Stormtroopers rushed in and began shooting at all the party goers. It was there, with them. Something horrible was going to happen. 

A trill captures Finn and Rey’s attention, the two of them turning to see Kylo Ren standing at the bottom of the slope. He was studying the vault as a white and red BD unit stood next to him, beeping curious beeps that neither Finn or Rey could translate. “Yeah, that’s them.” He tells the droid. 

Rey gathered her breath, igniting her magenta blade and stared him down with annoyance. “What have you done to her?” 

“Rey,” Finn tries to calm her down but the girl refuses to let her fire burn out. 

She aims the tip of her blade up at Kylo Ren. “You’re the reason why she believes she has to do this. You filled Nova’s head with your own teachings! She’s _my_ sister, Ren. _My_ family.” 

“It wasn’t me, Rey.” He takes a step towards her and shows her his black gloved hands as a sign of surrender and meaning no harm. “Snoke had a friend named Avellian and _he’s_ the one that’s been corrupting her. He coursed her to learn about Ochi killing your mother and your father, taught her that Palpatine ordered Ochi to find his grandchild and to kill them.” 

“And why should I believe someone who murdered their own father?” She barks through clenched teeth, her hazel eyes intense. 

Kylo gives her a soft expression, and it’s the first that she’s ever seen it. Her lightsaber lowers by a few meters. “The dark side is in Nova and I’s nature, but she still has your love and your acceptance to go back. I don’t have either.” He gulps, eyes getting teary and his voice drops into a lower tone. “I can’t return to my mother. It’s too late.” 

This time it was Finn’s turn to take over to speak with the older boy. “But you can, it’s never too late. Your parents missed you—Leia, she still misses you. Whatever Snoke told you, it all has been lies to brainwash you, to condition you into thinking that you deserved to be with the First Order and that you had no other choice. As long as you’re alive, you always have a choice.” 

All the voices that Kylo had heard in his head had always told him how weak he was, how he couldn’t survive unless he listened to them. Yet hearing Finn speak with high confidence, it made a new feeling wash over him. 

“You still have a home, Kylo.” Finn offers him a hand. “Come with us.” 

His eyes drift behind them, landing on the vault and thinking about Nova who still remained inside. He couldn’t sense her and it worried him desperately, having him mentally praying that she was alright. The scavenger had become his entire life, his other half and even though he believed that he had no home with the Resistance, he believed that he had one with her. 

“My home is her.” 

The wind picks up, blowing harshly and Rey shivers as the maleviolence rages on within the Force and she grips her hilt tightly. Her eyes narrow in on Kylo and he meets her penetrating gaze. Was this a ruse of his to attack them? It wouldn’t be the first. Her mind flashes back to Starkiller Base and how he cut off their running in the snowy forest, him being injured but that didn’t stop him from slicing Finn and nearly killing him. 

The flashes then flicker to her nightmares, her visions that she’s been receiving off and on during her and Finn’s training. Nova dying before her, eyes wide and lifeless as her lips are a faded blue-purple color and her body stiff and growing cold to the touch with dried blood on her chin and nose. Rey had to stop that from happening, she just had the sensation it’d happen if Nova went to Exegol. 

Rey shakes with visible anger, cheeks turning red. “When she steps out, you’re going to give us the wayfinder.” She orders, pressing the order through the Force to try and influence his mind. 

But Kylo was strong, and undeterred. “No.” 

The vault opens and Nova comes walking out in between the Tandem, handing the Emperor’s Sith Wayfinder to Kylo in a quick manner. She didn’t want to hold it any longer, nor did she want to be on the old sea air corroded Imperial space station. BD-1 instantly crawls up her leg and uses his little motor to fly up and perched himself upon her left shoulder blade. 

“I don’t want to be here anymore,” Nova informs him and begins to head out of the room. “Let’s go.” 

Kylo just stood in place, eyeing the wayfinder in his hand and felt how Rey was staring at it as well. His eyes flicker up towards her. 

She pushes with the Force once again, this time harder. “Give it . . . to me.” She demands, struggling and gasping as the air rumbled all around them. 

If Rey went, Nova would surely follow and that was something that made Kylo choose his next action within seconds. “No one is going to Exegol.” He then squeezed the wayfinder, its sides and frame shattering. 

“No!” Rey screamed. She jumped and lashed out at him with her saber. 

He leapt out of the way once, twice, and ducked under the third before running off and sliding down on his knee. Standing up, he swings under another and shifts back. He didn’t want to fight Rey but her moves were effortless and she was letting herself be guided by rage and he knew that he couldn’t hold out any longer. Finally, he activated his blade to parry. 

“Rey! Stop!” Nova shouts to her.

But Rey didn’t stop from continuing her assault. She drove Kylo out of the Emperor’s throne room, traveling distance to be along a catwalk, on the defensive. Anger drive her attack—anger at him, at his destruction of the wayfinder, at Nova believing she needed to face Palpatine alone. 

Their lightsabers clash, pink plasma on red plasma. Waves crashing against the catwalk, rain lashing down from storm clouds. Sometimes Kylo disappeared, like a ghost, lost in fog and spray. Sometimes Rey felt herself disappear, lost in the fury of her assault. She felt stronger with every blow, while he seemed weakened, in constant retreat. 

Rey whips her saber around, about to strike Kylo across the chest but her momentum stalled. Her blade hummed in place, the plasma distorting and she gazes over her shoulder to see Nova’s outstretched hand. She was holding back her sister’s blow, giving Kylo a chance to break free, that was until Finn met up with Nova and broke her concentration which released Rey’s blade. 

The pink blade met Kylo’s and she renewed her attack, thrusting and stabbing at him with all her ferocity. Kylo kept backpedaling toward the end of the broken catwalk, where the ocean roared. Swells loomed over them as they batted blades and Rey leapt away with the power of the Force to avoid being pummeled by a crashing wave. Kylo did the same. 

On the other end of the hunk of metal, Finn was trying to talk sense into Nova but just like Rey, she wasn’t in the mood for conversation. She was wasting time being here when she should’ve been on Exegol, confronting her grandfather and trying to save Rey and the Resistance, and the rest of the galaxy from impending death. Her moral of fair play was disregarded, taking out her damaged lightsaber hilt and trying to activate it but no blade was emitting. At the sight, Finn took out his and ignited his bright green blade, double handling it. 

“Nova, I don’t want to hurt you.” He warns her. 

“Then don’t,” she calls to him as a wave crashes in between them, droplets splashing them in their faces. “I need to go to Exegol, _I_ have to deal with Palpatine.”

“Nova—” 

“This started with me!” She shouts over the thunderous sea. “None of this would’ve happened if it weren’t for me, Finn. I have to do this. No one else needs to get hurt. No one should have to get hurt.” 

Finn felt himself understanding her reasoning and couldn’t blame the poor girl. Of course she’d believe that all of this had been her fault but that’s almost like blaming yourself for how stars burn out. It was beyond Nova’s control, it was nature. And if nature taught you anything, it’s that life renews and finds a new way to be a part of something else. 

“Nova! Thank the stars I found you!” 

The young girl looks over, seeing Avellian running up from behind Finn and he is panting. His entire outfit was damp and his hair wet, dripping as it clung to the sides of his face. 

“Something happened!” He leaps over a splitting crack in the catwalk, landing with a stumble but recovers. Avellian stands before her, blocking Finn from her sight, the look of fear in his eyes. Fear and regret. “Nova, it’s General Hux . . .”

Rey never felt so alive, so focused, so invincible. Kylo Ren had made a mistake confronting her and talking about her own sister as if she knew nothing about her. She was going to send him to a watery grave. 

In front of a gun turret, she flew at him with her saber, swinging wildly. He matched her strokes, then assailed her with a surprising onslaught of his own. She was put on the defensive as he used his saber like a club, beating her backward. It was more than determination that fueled his surge; it was his love for Nova. She could feel it radiating off his blade. 

Swinging from underneath, Kylo captured her magenta blade and spun his body to the left. The connecting blades encapsulate and lock, making Rey snarl and trying to yank her lightsaber from its hold. Kylo knocks it loose by undoing his spin and Rey goes to land a hit at his stomach but he blocks in a fluid manner. With two over the head bring downs, Rey’s legs give out as she begins tiring from using up all her strength. She lost hold of her saber, it switched off and rolled away from her. 

He loomed over her with his crackling saber, and she knew she was done. But he didn’t do anything, he just quit his attack. The determination vanished from his eyes as he slowly turned, stunned, and to Rey’s disbelief, staggering back. 

Through the haze and another colossal wave struck down on the metal ridge, Kylo could see Nova’s silhouette, Finn’s vivid green blade that clashed against the blue and white hues of the moon’s landscape, and the familiar body structure of Avellian. He sensed Nova’s distress and exasperation as the older man told her that General Armitage Hux, the brotherly figure of hers, had been killed by Captain Phasma who was secretly the spy for the Resistance. 

Nova felt weak but most importantly, she felt a new power awakening within her and it stirred up a sense of chaos that troubled Kylo. He drops his hilt in shock, the blades deactivating. He tries to call out to her but a new awareness takes over him in a mere second. 

Rey had caught his fallen hilt in a reverse grip, getting up onto her feet. She didn’t know, nor cared, why he stumbled backward onto the deck. All she wanted to do was end Kylo Ren’s pitiful life right then and there. She brought back her right hand, igniting the saber and impaled him directly into the stomach with a grunting yell. 

Instantly Nova felt her own body hunch over and she spun on her heel, seeing Rey’s fatal blow to Kylo and everything seemed to go in slow motion. She breaks out into the sprint, running for him but Avellian captures her from behind, around the waist. Nova tries to break his hold, fighting to run and to be with Kylo as she feels his life force slipping away from him. BD-1 still perched at her shoulder and sticking close to the girl as she began mourning for Armitage, and now, Kylo.

In the Force, Rey felt a ripple wash over her and she suddenly realized what she had done with the whisper of, “Nova” falling from her lips. She extinguishes the saber, causing Kylo to fall back onto the deck and she sees Nova staring at her in a newfound horror. 

Nova’s teary eyes were glued onto her as only one thought took over, an answer to her question from all the way back on Starkiller. Yes; her sister was _that_ dangerous.

She whimpers, crying and shaking her head. Avellian manages to keep her on her feet, holding the young girl up. “Nova, there’s nothing you can do now. You can’t help him. We have to go, okay? We still have Vader’s wayfinder, we can make it to Exegol.” A pause. “We can stop this once and for all, okay? We have to go.”

Together, Avellian and Nova ran off while Finn shut off his weapon and Force jumped onto the section that Rey and Kylo were on. Rey watched as the man, Avellian, boarded Nova up on the Night Buzzard with the Knights of Ren and took off high in the sky. 

Rey stood on the wreckage of the Death Star, splashed by the cold sea, feeling emptier than she had ever felt. How could she have let her temper take hold of her? Kylo Ren might have been a great evil but one did not match evil with evil. In her anger, Rey had disregarded all her teacher had taught. 

Finn ran up, cupping her face and asked if she were okay. She apologized to Finn and he gently kissed her to calm her down, giving her a comforting hug for a moment. 

At their feet, Kylo groaned in pain, shifting an arm over the saber wound in his lower stomach. Death hadn’t taken him. Not yet. Perhaps it was because he was trying to channel it, to have it fuel his own power to force his body to heal itself like how he learned of Darth Maul. He focused on his love for Nova, and it proved to work as he kept on gasping and taking in very long, and deep breaths as he rested against a pylon.

Finn and Rey both bent down to him. Rey blinked through her tears, and told him, “Avellian took Nova away.” She sniffles. “I’m sorry.” 

It became apparent to Rey now, about what Kylo meant earlier. The man Avellian seemed to be sneaky and cunning, he had a sensation about him that didn’t settle right with her. It was the very manifestation of what she felt before at the auction, what she felt in the old and broken throne room of the Emperor’s before Kylo showed up. She believed that the phenomenon was caused by the grandson of Darth Vader, not by whoever Avellian was but it had been. 

Kylo peers up at her, holding gaze and his eyes were windows into a damaged mind and soul, neither of which she could fix. But there was one person who could, and now she was gone with the man who had been friends with Snoke. 

“What do we do?” She asks him in a small voice but Kylo was too weak, too hurt. 

Finn gently placed a hand on her shoulder and mouthed to her that he needed time alone to himself. She respected the wish and stood with Finn, they both of them leaving him on the wrecked Death Star catwalk with waves crashing around him. 

Storm clouds moved past to reveal the disk of Endor’s forest moon from where Kylo sat. Darth Vader’s ashes lay on that moon, and it was from there that his mask and helmet had been retrieved. For years Kylo had meditated over those relics in the hope of communing with his grandfather, just as the voices in his head had communed with him. 

But whenever Kylo called to his grandfather, there was never a response. The silence taught him a lesson. Hope was a false prophet: it only led to crushing disappointment. For the past was past and the dead were dead, and nothing could bring them back. It was why Palpatine went to such lengths to stay alive. Because after this, there was nothing.

Or at least that was what Kylo had thought, until Nova had brought him back from certain death and showed him the strength of resisting one’s inner darkness. 

He managed to stand up and walk to the edge of a beam, holding the hilt of his lightsaber and staring up at the sky. The waves in the surrounding ocean had subsided and it allowed him to feel a presence behind him. Also allowed him to hear a voice. “Hey, Ben.” 

Kylo turned. Partly transparent yet present in the Force stood Anakin Skywalker in a blue hue. He was his younger self with wavy hair just grazing his shoulders, icy blue eyes that were kind and delicate, and he had a scar on the right side of his face. 

The younger boy frowns. “Ben is dead.” 

“No,” Anakin said. “Kylo Ren is dead. My grandson is alive.” 

He let his eyes roam to see his grandfather’s brown Jedi robes and his childlike expression, that held a hint of a smile. 

“Why are you here now?” He asks him. “All those times I called for you, and meditated, you never showed.” 

“Darth Vader was a creation of the Emperor, something that was birthed from my misery and pain, and anger.” Anakin explained. “I was weak, and I wanted power. I gave into fear because I was afraid of what I’d lose, and that very ideal of loss is what led me to the Dark Side.” 

Kylo grew quiet, telling himself that this was nothing but a manifestation of his own guilt, trying to make him do something that was beyond his power. 

“Ben,” 

The boy often recoiled from his birth name, yet coming from Nova, and now Anakin, it sounded different. He was reminded of happier times, of the person he was, of the son who had been everything to his parents. 

He regretted having repressed his birth name for so long but again, the trauma he endured just couldn’t go away on his own. He is Ben Solo as much as he is Kylo Ren. He was so occupied with forcing himself to kill his past that he hadn’t realized he needed to accept it, to overcome it all and press forwards. To keep living and prove to himself that he could become better, to learn from his mistakes and use all he’s known. 

He doubted he could live up to the name of Ben Solo now. “I know what I have to do,” he said to Anakin, “but I don’t know if I have the strength to do it.” 

“You do. You’re strong, stronger than any Jedi could ever hope to be. Help your mother and the Resistance, and bring back the balance as I did.” A pause. “She’s going to need you.” 

A strange feeling came over him. A tenderness. “Grandfather . . .” 

“You still have a choice.” 

For some moments they looked at each other, grandfather and grandchild, Anakin and Ben. And in his grandfather’s eyes, Ben saw a pride and a joy he had always sought. He was determined not to let his grandfather or his parents down this time. So he made a choice. 

Ben Solo took his lightsaber, the lightsaber that had caused so much destruction and pain, whipped around and threw it as far as he could to cast it in the sea. 

“Be brave, Ben. Don’t look back.”


	29. True Emperor

Once there was a girl who had many dreams. One of them was to see the stars, and the other was to dream about the past. She read, watched, and listened to everything she could about the Jedi and Sith of old, who had mythic powers that defied belief. But as much as she imagined herself seeing the stars and learning stories of mystical warriors from mysterious worlds, she could not explore the universe beyond the desert planet where she’d been orphaned. She had to wait until her parents returned. Her name was Nova, born of a family she did not know. 

One day events beyond her control forced the girl to leave her desert home. She journeyed to different star systems and planets of every season and terrain, being passed about until she landed in the clutches of the First Order. She also discovered that she had the gift of the Force because of her father, Cassius, who was the son of Darth Sidious. Her family, her bloodline, was that of a Palpatine. 

Being separated from her half sister, she came to understand a powerful connection between her and the grandson of Darth Vader, Kylo Ren. But when she first met him, Nova only knew him as Ben Solo. Kylo Ren tried to forget his long lost name but the girl still named him as such. It wasn’t because she wanted to change him back to who he used to be, it was for the reason to let him know that he still had something left of his old life waiting for him. That he still had somewhere to go even after it was all over. They were a Dyad in the Force, a cosmic myth foretold that two souls were bound together as one; inseparable in life and even in death.

But perhaps that was an unfathomable thing to say because as Nova was in her own little room aboard the Night Buzzard, eyeing her torn apart hilt and broken kyber crystal, she tried to reach out through her and Kylo’s connection. She tugs on their mental link but there was nothing that answered her back. Dead. He had to be dead. Like her mother, her stepfather, and Bylsma, and now Armitage Hux. 

Nova slams her hand on the workspace table in an unforgettable sadness and shifts around as her body begins sinking down, onto the floor, holding her knees tightly to her chest. Tears made their way down her cheeks as she cried in silence, like how she had in her youth. It’s amazing what little details of childhood could be carried with you into becoming an adult. 

Alone. Nova Palpatine was alone. And was the definition of being a failure. A failure as a daughter, as a sister, as a friend, and a failure at being a person. 

BD-1 had wandered in through the one vent, making his way in to see Nova and trills softly to gain her attention but she paid no mind. Her face was buried into her knees and arms, obscuring her vision as her muffled sobs sounded. The little droid’s memory had clicked, something inside of him taking over and he placed himself as his one eye began projecting a recorded holographic message. 

“Hi,” the exact same humble and soft voice of the boy she heard in her vision spoke out loud. 

Nova sniffles, slowly raising her head to see BD-1 displaying the hologram of a red haired boy that stood about 182 centimeters tall, had a scar on his nose and a set of blue-brown eyes. He wore a blue outfit that seemed to be some type of rigger equipment with a leather harness, a welding glove on his left hand and he wore a brown leather cuff on his right. A cuff that seemed eerily familiar to her. 

The boy kneels, looking directly into BD-1 and Nova could tell the young adult had such compassion. “I’m Cal Kestis and if you’re seeing this then that means BD-1 found you, or you found him.” A silent pause. “That also means that the day has come, _Nova_.”

Cal Kestis. A seventeen year old that had survived Order 66 and went after Eno Cardova’s holocron to save the lives of the children on the list that the Empire was trying to find. It was such a mesmerizing thing but that’s not what made her body freeze in place, it was the mention of her name falling from the old Jedi Knight’s lips. Her breathing ceased to exist as BD-1’s old owner’s gaze shifted upwards and went to her as if he could actually see her. How did he know about her? How exactly did he know that she’d be the one that’d find BD-1? And that she’d be sitting in that certain direction? 

“You’ve been hiding, afraid of who you are and what that meant to the galaxy. I was too.” Cal says in that tender voice of his and sits backwards, propping up his feet and leans forwards to rest his elbows onto his kneecaps. Nova caught sight of his lightsaber that hung off his belt: it was sleek, made from alloy metal, and had a silver prong emitter. She theorized that it used to be a dual lightsaber because where the pommel is supposed to be, there was instead an exposed cylinder and wires that were frayed. “Someone once said failure isn’t the end, that it’s a necessary part of our path. That hope will always survive in those who continue to fight, just like BD-1 here. Just like me, and now you. All of us, brave and persistent.” 

Nova blinks, releasing a few tears as she tries to focus on Cal’s words. They were filled with such care and love, and devotion. They sounded and reminded her of her own mother’s when she held her tight in that Jakku tent, never wanting to let her go. She was still confused on why this message was for her, why was she important.

The very question was answered by Cal himself. “When the Mantis Crew and I obtained the holocron that had the list of the next generation of Force Sensitive children, I saw your name: Nova Palpatine. At the moment, I couldn’t explain it but I just knew that you were special to me. It took a while to understand it, but eventually I did.” 

She waited for him to explain it but he didn’t. He just grew quiet, running a hand back through his orange locks and taking a moment to gather himself. On the side of his neck and skimming across his jawline, he had a burnt mark and it looked identical to the one that she had gotten from the Second Sister. Stifling a broken laugh, Cal lowers his legs, sitting criss crossed and focuses solely on Nova. 

“It wasn’t always like this. The galaxy changed.” Cal explains to her, which she already knew but hearing it first hand from a young Jedi who lived back in the time of Darth Vader and Inquisitors—and Emperor Palpatine, of course—was a whole other experience. “And there are three rules to survive it. Don’t stand out. Accept the past. Trust no one.” 

Frowning, Nova droops her head down and wipes away her tears with her sleeve. The basic rules of Cal Kestis were all broken by her. She stood out for being a strong user of the Force and being Palaptine’s grandchild. She couldn’t accept her past because she knows that there’s more that she could’ve done instead of just letting it all go how it went. And trust no one? Nova trusted her sister, and Rey went and killed Kylo. Once again, Nova believed herself to be broken and useless. Just like her lightsaber. 

All of it was one giant mistake. 

Like before, it was as if Cal knew she would be thinking that way because he then said, “I’ve made a few mistakes. No one is perfect. We all struggle but it’s the choice to keep fighting that makes us who we are.” The boy gets his feet under him and stands tall, eyes still locked on her hunched over frame that rested against her workbench. “I believe in you, Nova. And I believe in what you choose to do next. Trust only in the Force.” 

The recorded message cuts out and BD-1 drops his head at the sight of his fallen master, having a moment of silence. After a few minutes, he peers to Nova, awaiting for her to speak. 

“He knew I was going to find you.” She whispers, lowering her arms from her legs and at her sides. “Didn’t even know me yet believed in me, just like you. Believing in a Palpatine . . . Why?” 

The droid boo-beeps in response: _He saw your spirit, your heart. Nothing is set in stone._ Nova smiles at the little droid’s words, the tip of her nose getting pinched from trying not to cry. 

Up and over her shoulder, she stares up to see her pommel piece resting on the edge of the desk before peering back down at the BD unit. “There’s still a chance.”

Nova stands, her cape swooshing behind her as she stares in front of her workbench. The split kyber crystal, once that was clear and transparent now colored dark red from it having been bled by Kylo himself. Nova takes both pieces into her hands, studying them as a thought comes to her. Anything that was broken could be fixed and made into something new. 

“There’s always a chance.” She whispers to herself and places the kyber pieces back down onto the desk. Grabbing her tools, Nova began crafting her old hilt into something else entirely different and her eyes flicker over to her old haversack that she had since childhood. She reaches for it, peering in to see different scraps of metals that she’s collected over the years and dumps them out. Picking through the pieces, she takes what is needed and continues on making her new lightsaber. 

BD-1 flies up and lands on her shoulder, watching her as she begins fitting pieces together and welded them together with her right as her left hand was outstretched and hovering over. She was using the Force to help her construct and it proved efficient, a low sounding rumble carried throughout the room and the droid just watched in amazement. 

Remembering the design of Cal’s lightsaber, Nova took that into consideration and began to recreate it from her numerous scraps and melted the cylinders together to get the look and shape of it. It just felt right for her to model her newer lightsaber after his own, a very unexplainable sensation but she remembered how he told her to trust in Force and that’s exactly what she was doing in the moment. 

Adding the finishing touches, Nova sets off her welder torch and connects the two hilts together to create one. Closing her eyes and exhaling deeply, Nova’s gloved hands drift over the lightsaber to mend the kybers and attune it with the Force, and with herself. The rumbling of channeling the Force thrums through her eardrums as she focuses for a solid minute then it dies down, causing Nova to open her eyes. Carefully picking up the hilt, she turns around and glances at BD-1 who was still perched on her shoulder. He beeps and with confidence, Nova activates the switch, red blades coming to life. She twirls it around in her grasp, BD-1 trilling over her creation how it hums lively before she shuts it off and clips it to her belt. 

Nova was ready to face Exegol, ready to face the Emperor.

The Millennium Falcon made the journey to Ajan Kloss without a hitch. The thrusters burned at the correct intervals, the landing gear deployed properly and even the compressor made accurate adjustments to the engine pressure. Poe landed the Falcon in the jungle clearing outside the cave, feeling nervous about letting down General Leia Organa, the mission, and needing to tell her that they had no Sith Wayfinder to get to Exegol. 

Poe headed down the Falcon’s ramp, with Finn, Chewie, the girls and the droids right behind him. He went over to Beaumont Kin and he applied ointment to his arm that helped relieve the pain, but he still felt numbness from something deeper than a blaster wound. Something incurable. The Resistance was in the dark without the Emperor’s Wayfinder and the speeches he made about sparks and fires seemed like the words of a fool. 

He leaned against a gurney in the base’s infirmary, stacked crates forming walls to offer patients a slim degree of privacy. Leia visited him and before she could say anything, he beat her to it. “We came so close. I’m sorry.” 

“Poe,” she starts softly. 

“I don’t know how to do this. I don’t know what you saw in me. I’m not ready.” 

Leia couldn’t help but smile. “And you thought Luke, Han, Lando, and I were?” She tugs up on her dress, allowing herself some room to sit down next to him. “No one’s ever ready, Poe.” 

Poe turned to her. “How did you do it? How do you beat an empire with almost nothing?” 

“We had each other.” Their helper from Pasaana, General Lando Calrissian, walked over to them using a steel-tipped cane. “That’s how we won.” 

This was said by the man who had once betrayed his friend Han Solo to save his city from an empire of another age. Yet Lando had made up for that betrayal by helping Leia rescue Han—and Han, in turn, had forgiven him. 

General Organa had done the same for Poe. She had respected him not just as a pilot but as a friend. And friends didn’t give up on each other after being wronged. They gave each other second chances. 

Poe was not going to waste his second chance. He would live by General Organa’s example and not fear that he had to lead the Resistance all by himself. For true leadership depended on the support and involvement of one’s friends. 

Commander Rose Tico walked into the opening between crates, she looked grim. “General Organa, you need to see this,” she said. 

Leia and the men followed her to the command center and even before Leia could she, she felt an underwhelming sensation. Standing at one of the consoles was Finn and another young man who’s black hair was wavy and was in a long sleeved black sweater, pants, and boots. 

“Kijimi’s been destroyed,” Rose said matter-of-factly, as if such terrible things were now commonplace—which they were. “A blast from a Star Destroyer.” 

“Impossible.” Poe hesitated, knowing that Anya would be stricken with anguish with the news. “No. No. No way a Star Destroyer—” 

“It was from the new Sith fleet,” the boy next to Finn turned. “Out of the Unknowns.” 

Leia took a step forward, seeing her son standing on the jungle soil and her breath was taken away, having her speechless. She missed and loved Ben, despite all he had done. A mother’s love was unlike anything else in the universe, it was unbreakable and eternal. Not even the Dark Side could rupture its bond. 

She felt and knew that Ben and Nova were connected the way she and Luke were connected. Twins not of the womb but of the Force. And she always knew that he would come home because of her, and now, Ben had. 

“Mom,” Ben says somberly. 

“I know,” Leia says. 

She reaches up and he bends down, the both of them entangling their arms around one another for a hug. A long and overdue hug between son and mother. Leia held him so tight that she could feel her bones rattling from the pressure, tears coming to her eyes that she now had her son back in one piece. 

At a communications console nearby, Poe spotted a holographic transmission that was broadcast galaxy-wide. It showed a dark grey Star Destroyer hovering over the brown orb of Kijimi. A superlaser on the Destroyer’s underbelly fired a sustained blast at the planet. Kijimi appeared to pulse, as if absorbing the blast, and then the world collapsed on itself before exploding into fragments. 

Poe felt his heart do the same. 

Beaumont studied the hologram of the Star Destroyer. “The Sith sent the ship from Exegol. Does that mean all the ships in his fleet—”

“Have planet-killing weapons?” Poe said. “Of course they do. Every single one. This is how he finishes it.” 

That was the bitter truth. Any planets and people who rebelled or refused allegiance would be obliterated. No one was safe. 

“There’s also a message,” Rose said. “Listen. It’s on every frequency.” She amplified the volume. A voice spoke in a cryptic language Poe didn’t know. 

Beaumont translated the message. “‘The Resistance is dead. The Sith flame will burn. All worlds surrender or die. The Final Order begins’.” 

C-3PO walked around the humid cave which caused condensation to gather in his joints, seeing a hundred or so workers and whatever labors they were assigned. An R2 series astromech droid wheeled toward him, beeping a warm welcome. C-3PO responded in kind. “Hello, I’m See-Threepio, human cyborg relations. And you are?” 

The droid rolled back, swiveled his silver dome, and sniped.

C-3PO was insulted. “My memory ‘backup’? Why would a stubby astromech droid have my memory stored?” 

The droid identified himself as R2-D2 and beeped that since they were best friends, he had stored an emergency backup of C-3PO’s memory. 

“Well, I’m quite certain I’d remember if I had a best friend.”

To end the conversation, C-3PO headed toward the large blockade runner parked in the center of the save. But the pesky droid whirred after him, extracting his data transfer arm and plugged it right into his rear plate socket. All servomoror operations halted. 

Rey was at her workbench in the cave, still fidgeting with the Skywalker lightsaber as Ochi’s droid rolled around on the ground and inspected her things. He pecked a training remote recharging at a generator, then zoomed away when it tried to zap him. Her books received some scrutiny, but he seemed leery of the dehumidifying field. Nonetheless, the droid took great interest in the various tools and components scattered on her workbench. The accordion tubing of his neck lifted so the cone of his head was on the same level as the bench top. 

Rey started thinking as she completed the splintered hilt. “D-O,” her gentle voice spoke to him. “Have you ever been to Exegol?” 

When C-3PO’s systems came back online, an unspecified amount of time had passed, since his internal chrono had been reset. For some reason he stood in the middle of the cave on Ajan Kloss that was the Resistance’s temporary headquarters. How he had gotten all the way over there? His last recollection was being in the base’s droid maintenance section, hooked up to his counterpart. 

The download must have been completed, because R2-D2 was next to him, withdrawing his data transfer arm. His logic processor calculated that there was a 93.8 percent chance that the download had temporarily restricted other functions, such as his memory storage routines. 

“Artoo, have you heard? I’m going with Rey on her very first mission!” 

R2-D2’s response caused C-3PO’s logic processor to return an error.

“What do you mean I already have?” 

Rey runs past, making way to wherever Finn, Poe, Lando, Freya, and the others were, with D-O running with her. She saw Finn at the commander center and he felt her presence, turning, seeing her and Rey skids to a halt, her chest heaving. “Rey, you alright?” Finn places his hands on her shoulders to calm her down. 

“D-O’s been to Exegol, has a ton of information on it.” Rey quickly begins to say and makes a glance over at Ben before peering back to Finn. “But it’s not what we think, Finn.” Her eyes widened in shock and horror. 

“What?” Poe steps up next to Finn, listening in. So was everyone else. 

Rey gulps. “We know that Ochi was sent to find Palpatine’s grandchild.” 

“Which is Nova.” Finn nods, understanding that part more than anything. 

“The Emperor didn’t want her dead, he wanted her alive to go to Exegol.” She explains. “Someone else wanted Nova to die. _Another_ Palpatine.” 

The news weighed in on all of them. 

Beaumont Kin then huffs, “So the Emperor did clone himself, as a way to transfer his life essence. A loophole into being immortal.” 

“Excuse me, but we have to worry about two Palpatines now?” Freya comments.

“I knew something was off,” Ben’s voice captures all of their attention and he shakes his head in sadness. His eyes flicker up to see the group waiting to know what he was meaning. “The one person who’s been filling Nova’s head with nonsense, who knew about the travels of the Unknown Regions and who told the First Order about the Emperor being alive. The clone of Darth Sidious, it’s Avellian.” 

Finn plugged a cord into the back of D-O cone head and entered the other end into the command center’s console, a hologram of a cloud covered world and the data that swam around it was put on display. It was everything they needed to know for an air strike on Exegol. 

Poe pored over the same data, scrolling through the holographic numbers around the clouds. “How do we get there? You see these atmos readings?”

Finn nodded. But it wasn’t just the atmosphere that was concerning; it was the entire sector of space around the planet. “It’s a mess out there. Magnetic cross fields . . .”

“Gravity wells, solar winds.” Rose adds. 

“How can their fleet even take off in that?” Freya mused. 

It was a valid point. Star Destroyers might be some of the toughest warships out there, but they weren’t invincible. The conditions on and around Exegol could do irreparable harm to any kind of starcraft, particularly untested ships coming out of factories. 

Ben then thought of something. “Rey, you saw Nova take off. What was she in?” 

Rey took a moment to recall. “A black modified Oubliette class transport.” 

Grinning with satisfaction, he mosied up on Finn. “May I?” The young man moved and gave him the console. Ben began tapping buttons on the console, making a star map shimmer to life with the symbol of the Night Buzzard speeding through space. He traced the trajectory line in the star map. “We have our path.” 

Ben looked to Poe, Rey, and Finn, then lastly to his mother. She was proud of him and it was very apparent that he did truly have a home within the Resistance. 

Poe assembled his fellow officers, pilots, and soldiers around the blockade runner for a briefing on the mission that would make or break the Resistance. He let Finn and Rose Tico introduce the mission while allowing for an open discussion. Poe wanted to show that all of them would be involved in leading the Resistance, like how Leia often displayed. 

“As long as those Star Destroyers are on Exegol, we can hit them.” Finn informs them. A holoprojector had been erected on crates in front of the group, showing a spinning image of Exegol. 

“Hit them how?” Suralinda asked. 

“They can’t activate their shields until they leave atmosphere,” Rose tells her. 

Poe then adds, “Which isn’t easy on Exegol. Ships that size need help taking off. Nov can’t tell which way is up out there.” 

“So how do the ships take off?” Lieutenant Tyce, an ace pilot and wife of Commander D’Acy, pondered. 

“They use a signal from a navigation tower, like this one.” Poe pressed a button on his remote. The holo zoomed in on the planet, centering on a tall black tower with four vanes at the top. 

“Except they won’t,” Finn explained. “Air team’s gonna find the tower and the ground team’s gonna blast it.” 

Lieutenant Vanik, a pilot whom Poe had recruited, reacted in surprise. “Ground team?” 

Finn smirks. “I’ve got an idea about that.” 

D-O canted his head toward BB-8 and cooed. Poe, however, remained serious and stoic. “Once the tower’s done, their fleet is stuck in atmo, with no shields, no way out.” 

“That’s our chance.” Lando nods. 

Snap Wexley wasn’t buying it. “Shields or no shield, Star Destroyers aren’t target practice. Not for single fighters.” 

“The Star Destroyers have a weak spot,” Rose began. “Their axial cannons draw power directly from their reactors, which gives us a target. We think hitting the cannons might take out the main reactors and bring down the Destroyers.” 

Finn backed her up. “Fighters can take out their cannons if there are enough of us.” 

“There’s not enough of us, though.” Cori Pryde says, looking around at their tiny group of a hundred and four.

“She’s right.” Connix nods. “We’d be no more than bugs to them.” 

“That’s where Lando and Chewie come in.” Finn gestured to the former gambler and the Wookie. “They’ll take the Falcon towards the Core Systems. Send out a call for help to anyone who’s listening.” 

Poe agreed. “We’ve got friends out there. They’ll come if they know there’s hope.” 

The assembled crowd grumbled and muttered in response. The Resistance had tried this before. General Organa herself had sent out a distress call on Crait. No one had come to their aid then. Why would they know?” 

Leia noticed the silence that fell over everyone and spoke. “My son, Ben, has joined us.” She then motions to him. “He found hope and came here to help us. If he can, others will too.” 

With the introduction, Ben felt the need to speak and he stood before the very crowd. “You all have your opinions of me, and no matter what I can say or do won’t change that because I’ll need to earn my spot. And that’s alright, hopefully I will. But Poe and Finn, they’re right. If there’s one thing I’ve learned during my time with Supreme Leader Snoke and the First Order, it’s that they win by making us think we’re alone. But we’re not because there are good people that will fight for you, with you, and guide you home.” 

Finn couldn’t help but feel overjoyed with Ben coming to terms that he still had a choice. That he still had a place to call his own. “We won’t give up.” He speaks to the group and nods to Ben before facing everyone. “We’re going to show them that we’re not afraid.” 

Poe then took over. “What our mothers and fathers fought for, we will not let die. Not today. Today, we make our last stand. For the galaxy. He paused to take in all their faces. “For everyone we’ve lost.” 

Finn nods. “They’ve taken enough of us. Now we take the war to them.” 

The rally cried with enthusiasm and Finn felt the joy awakening the communal spirit. This was going to be the toughest challenge any of them had ever faced, and none of them had backed down. 

Rey hurried through the base as final preparations were made before launch. Support droids pulled the camouflage cover off the blockade runner’s engines. The ground crew pumped fuel into the starship tanks. The quartermaster handed out blaster rifles to the invasion force that included Rose, Freya, Beaumont, and Connix. Commander D’Acy gave Lieutenant Tyce a goodbye kiss at her A-wing. Finn gave Klaud a goodbye pat on his neck. 

When Finn got to Poe’s X-wing, C-3PO watched as a crane loaded R2-D2 into the astromech socket. “I don’t know any droids who would venture into the Unknown Regions,” C-3PO said, gesticulating his arms. “But you’re no ordinary droid.” 

R2-D2 beeped that indeed he wasn’t.

Poe turned from the boarding ladder when he saw Finn. The two exchanged shoulder slaps, wishing the other good luck on their own trips. Poe then tapped C-3PO on the arm, causing the droid to look at him. But Poe said nothing else and heaved himself up the ladder into the cockpit. Finn got out of the way of the loadlifter droid and went over to his and Rey’s cloud car. 

Ben was standing before Leia, his mother noticing the burnt hole through his sweater and his newly healed face that he had managed to etch together after he harnessed the Force from the fatal wound that Rey gave him. He took in a shaky breath and looked his mother in the eyes, the warm and love was all there. He remembered clinging to her desperately as a child, loving the smell of her perfume that she wore before leaving for meetings. 

He tried reaching out to Nova but something was blocking him and it was apparent that it was Avellian who somehow clouded her from him. He was getting extremely worried and Leia touched his face, Ben absentmindedly melting into her tender hand. 

“What’s waiting for her out there?” 

Leia shared Ben’s concern. But whatever she was facing, Leia knew they would be there for her. 

“You’ll see her again,” she said to Ben. “I know you will.” 

She removes her hand from his face and sees Rey approaching, holding something in her hands and nods for Ben to turn. He does, coming face to face with him and she extends the Skywalker lightsaber to him. He takes it into his hand hesitantly, seeing how it was fixed and fused together back into one piece after it has been torn apart by the two powerful forces of him and Nova, and Rey and Finn. 

“It belongs to you, and you’re going to need it.” Rey tells him. 

Ben gives her an appreciative nod. “Thank you.” 

The girl then runs over to Finn, the two of them hugging before getting into their starship and bringing the vessel to life. 

Ben kept staring down at the legendary lightsaber that was created and belonged to Anakin Skywalker before being passed onto Luke Skywalker, then to Finn and Rey, and now it was in the hands of Ben Solo. A part of him believed that it didn’t deserve it but that was also part of his conditioning telling him otherwise. 

Unbeknownst to him, Maz Katana wandered up and examined the young Solo. He certainly did have his father’s mannerisms and that put a smile on her face. “Dear child,” her voice is calming and he looked to her, kneeling down to match her height and to give his undivided attention. “I see your eyes, you already know the truth.” She places her hand on top of his that enclosed the lightsaber. “The light, it’s always been there.” 

Ben weakly smiles but it falls away from his lips but Maz still kept hers which must have meant that something was right about that statement. 

“You came home, Solo. Yet, there is still one person who needs to.” 

“Nova.” He mumbles. 

Maz nods. “The girl knows what life has taught her, but she cannot perceive an answer to her life long question without your help. Go to her, let her know.” 

Unexpectedly, Ben moved forwards and hugged Maz. The old alien was stunned but it only took a few seconds for her to warm up into his embrace and hug him back with her scrawny arms. 

Letting the smuggler go, Ben headed over to an old TIE scout that Anya stole a while back and even before he could get into it and set on his path for Exegol, Leia stopped him. Without a word, she handed him something and stepped back with adoration in her eyes. 

“May the Force be with you, Ben.” 

Ben took a deep breath, watching as all the other craft lifted up and into the air, flying after Poe who led the way to Exegol. He started up at his TIE fighter, zooming after and went into hyperdrive after picking up on the Night Buzzard’s course signal markers like Poe. Once in lightspeed, Ben finally took a look at what his mother gave him and it was his father’s golden dice that used to hang in the Falcon. His ungloved and calloused fingers smooth over the surface of the one die and he places them into his pocket. 

With the Force, and now luck on his side, nothing would stop Ben Solo from saving the one he loved. 

Against a dark starscape hung the world of Nova’s nightmares. Exegol. As the Night Buzzard dove into the clouds, its sensors picked up massive engine signatures. Those signatures soon materialized into Star Destroyers armored in dark grey hulls, with red striping along the prows. Hundreds of the Destroyers drifted in neat rows while more lifted from the giant bay doors one the planet’s surface to join them. 

Nova held her breath at the size of the fleet. It was far greater in number than what Avellian told her and the First Order. The Night Buzzard landed without incident at the coordinates provided by Vader’s wayfinder but the sight of all those Star Destroyers unnerved her. If they launched out of the Unknown Regions, no army or navy in the galaxy would be able to match the military might of the Final Order. 

She walked out with BD-1 and stood on a darkling plain, staring up at a forbidding citadel that floated above the ground. Lightning flashes around her. A chill wind made her shiver. Everything was cast in a blue-grey haze except the fortress looming before her. Its walls were as black as night. She saw no gate, yet she sensed a presence inviting her inside. 

She knew she might never walk out if she entered it. She knew she might be consigning herself to pain and anguish and probably death. But still she went, and Avellian came after.

Nova walked under the citadel and felt its immense weight above her, as if the pull of gravity had been partially reversed. Although no one else was there besides Avellian, her hand rested on the lightsaber on her belt, ready to draw. 

The symbol of the Sith Eternal had been carved into the ground under the citadel and when she came upon it with Avellian, she stepped lightly on the hilt. The ground beneath them started to move. 

Nova found herself, BD-1, and Avellian on the circular platform of a lift, lowering into the darkness. She sunk past hideous statues that had been chiseled into the rock walls around her and she recognized some of them from her studies. Locphet, Mindran, Sissiri, Felkor, Sadow. All lords of the Dark Side. All Sith. Their mouths did not move, but she heard their unintelligible whispers. 

The lift landed in a great hall and she walked off the platform, passing more of the giant Sith statues. She came upon what appeared to be a laboratory of sorts, with bubbling vats and tubes that dangled from the ceiling. Purple robe hooded beings operated strange equipment, ignoring them. Jars on shelves preserved what looked like human brains. A giant tank contained naked creatures with pinched eyes and shriveled flesh. As Nova passed the tank, she glimpsed a face. 

It was the face of Snoke. 

Nova shudders, stumbling away from the tank and continues onwards as energy flashed between a cleft in the rock wall, as if beckoning her. She entered the cleft and headed an eerie crooning from within. The sound increased in volume as she moved down the narrow corridor. 

BD-1 beeps and hunkers down as the corridor takes them to a dais. Nova rounded it to see a black throne nestled between giant stone claws. It was the same throne she had seen in Kylo’s vision, the one she knew to be the throne of the Sith. It was completely empty. 

Avellian stared at it as lightning crackled and the crooning that Nova heard became louder, causing her to turn. 

Thousands of cloaked and hooded beings filled the stand of a vast amphitheater that circled the chamber. A chasm billowing with energy separated them from her and the throne. The spectators chanted in a language she didn’t understand. Avellian looked out at the crowd and was in complete awe whereas Nova felt herself getting nervous by the second. 

“Long have I waited,” someone whispered in a rough voice, close to her, “for my grandchild to come home.” 

She pivoted to see a mechanical arm descended from the darkness. Cables drooped along the armature’s length, and at its end a gaunt ghoul of a man pinned into a harness that resembled a metal claw. The man was repulsive to behold, yet Nova couldn’t look away. Flashes of energy from the chasm revealed that his body was bent in the harness, hunched from a twisted spine. Under a thick hood, tumors bulged on his brow, and his face was a fold of wrinkles. His eyes were rheumy, with pupils of milky white. Tubes delivered fluids of some kind into his throat. What flesh clung to him had withered to the bone. And the black robes he wore couldn’t hide his festering lesions and open sores. He was a man who was rotting alive, if alive he truly was. 

He was her grandfather. 

“Why did you want to kill me?” She asked, mustering up all the courage she could manage.

Cast in the flickering light of the chasm, her grandfather looked more like a phantom than a living being. “I never wanted you dead. I wanted you here, Empress Palpatine.” He said to her, gesturing to the dais. “It is your birthright to rule here. It’s in your blood. Our blood.” 

Nova stepped back from the throne, hand near the hilt of her dual lightsaber.

“I can feel your hatred. Your anger. You want to kill me. That is what I want.” He says, drawing out the words. “Kill me and my spirit will pass into you. As the Sith live in me, you will become Empress.” 

Her grandfather had read her correctly. Nova _was_ angry, but not at him. She was angry because she sensed him telling the truth about him never wanting her dead. It didn’t make sense. 

“If you didn’t want me dead, then why did you send Ochi to kill me? To murder my stepfather and my mother?” 

Suddenly, her grandfather turns away from staring at her and focuses on the only other person that was in the cathedral. “Welcome back,” 

Avellian stilled but still slowly turned, facing the older man. 

Palpatine grins, showing his rotting teeth. “I knew you’d be the one to crawl back here. You always did have a knack for wanting approval.” 

“I didn’t come for it this time,” Avellian retorts. “I came for what’s rightfully mine.” 

“Oh? And what is that?” 

“Power.” 

In a quick motion, Avellian withdrew out a lightsaber and struck the Emperor directly into his gut. The life pouring out of the old man and Nova watched as the life essence had passed right into Avellian, transforming his eyes into a golden color. The body of Palpatine evaporates into thin air and Avellian draws in a deep breath, a sinister smile upon his face. 

He faces Nova, seeing her shocked expression and how her eyes drifted down to his lightsaber but it wasn’t just any saber. No, it was the one and only darksaber; the ancient and unique black-bladed lightsaber created by Tarre Vizsla himself. 

“What did you do?” 

Avellian grins. “I became the one true Emperor, at last.” 


	30. Drop Zone

Poe had flown from one end of the galaxy to the other one hundreds of missions. He’d been tossed, shaken, jostled, and jerked, sometimes for hours at a stretch through treacherous tracts of space. But the journey through the Unknown Regions had so many twists and turns that even a veteran pilot like him felt one the verge of nausea. 

He managed to keep it together, but he doubted many others in the Resistance fleet would. This important thing was that they lost no one on the way. The Tantive IV, the transport lander Fortitude, and all the starfighters made it through the strange red barrier and arrived at the coordinates Ben transmitted for them. A planet enveloped in thick grey gloom rotated before them. 

Poe plunged his fighter into Exegol’s clouds. Rising toward the stratosphere was a grey hulled Star Destroyer. Below it were scores more, scores upon scores. His eyes widened. “Look at this fleet.” 

The Resistance ships must have been detected, because the Star Destroyers started to unleash their cannons. A laster storm engulfed the sky, and the sheer torrent caught some starfighters, blowing them into chunks of white hot metal. 

“Damn it!” Poe announces into his headset, huffing, “Welcome to Exegol.”

Anya was glancing all around from within her X-wing, doding blasts. “Poe, there’s no sign of the Falcon or allies. What are we going to do?” 

“Get to their altitude!” Poe orders her, and everyone that was listening in. “They can’t fire on us without hitting each other. And don’t give up! Help is coming.”

He showed the way, weaving through the blasts and diving toward the Destroyers. The others trailed him, descending to the same level as the massive ships. 

Emergency alerts sounded. Enemy icons multiplied on Poe’s tracking scopes. They might be out of reach of the Destroyers’ cannons but not those of a new set of foes. 

“Incoming TIEs!” Aftab Ackbar shouted, rolling his A-wing to the side. 

Hordes of TIE fighters launched from what Poe assumed were underground hangars. These appeared to be a new variant, with triangular wings, red solar panels, and wing-mounted cannons and shield generators. They were also fast—faster than any other TIE Poe had encountered—and would overcome his squadron in mere moments. 

Poe was about to call for evasive maneuvers when Freya brought some much needed good news. “I see it!” She commed from the lander. “I’ve got a visual on the nav tower!” 

Clouds drifted past, and Poe saw it, too. A giant industrial spire with four broadcast vanes. “Take my lead,” Poe responded. “Lander, prep to unload the ground team at the base of the tower.” 

Poe jammed his flight yoke forward for a nosedive and activated his thrusters. It was all or nothing. 

In the Fortitude’s cockpit, Freya stared at the navigation toward through quadnoculars. She searched the artillery, an energy shield, a troop garrison, or any defensive weaponry. All she spotted were steady blue-white lights on top of the tower. 

Rose came up to her from the Troop compartment. “They ready back there?” Freya asked. 

“Never been readier,” she said. 

Cockpit alarms halted her smile. Lieutenant Tyce’s voice came over the ship’s intercom. “The navigation tower, it’s been deactivated! They’re not transmitting from it anymore.” 

“What?” Freya returned the quadnocs to her eyes. The tower’s lights had gone dark. But the fleet of Star Destroyers kept rising through the atmosphere, as if they were continuing to receive the navigation signal. 

Snap Wexley joined the conversation. “The ships need that signal, so it’s got to be coming from somewhere.” 

Freya put down her quadnocs and began looking around for anything. Through the viewport, she spied one Star Destroyer that didn’t resemble the others. It was longer, larger, lacking the dark grey hull, and bristling with all sorts of weaponry. 

Kylo Ren’s flagship was there on Exegol. The Steadfast. 

“Flying Solo,” Freya radioed, “what in the damn hell is the Steadfast doing here?” 

Ben blew up four TIEs before he maneuvered his vessel over and saw his old Destroyer hovering in line with the Sith fleet. He stared straight on, focusing intently and sensed Captain Phasma on the bridge, overlooking everything and being the commanding officer. He went further, feeling Elsie on board but she was in trouble. The cyborg was being held as a hostage and was shoved into a maintenance room along with another; a ginger haired, lanky and pale skinned fellow. General Armitage Hux, alive and well. 

“That lying, nerf herder.” Ben cursed under his breath, gripping his yoke and peered down on the world of Exegol. 

“Ben?” Finn calls out to the older boy. “What is it?” 

He dismisses the news of an alive Hux and reports to the group, “Your navigational signal is coming from the Steadfast. That’ll be your drop zone. Phasma overthrew the First Order and is working for Avellian.” 

It made perfect sense to Finn. Avellian was the greater scope villain at work here which meant that he needed things to go a certain way to achieve his end goal. He needed Starkiller Base to get blown up in the first place and that’s why Captain Phasma turned off the shields without a second thought. That was the first step in his evil, conniving scheme.

Freya focuses back on the Steadfast and nods. “Alright, let’s do this.” 

Tyce voiced her skepticism. “You want to launch a ground invasion on a Star Destroyer?” 

Freya rushed to the Troop compartment, still speaking into her comlink. “Nothing else we can do here. That ship’s vac systems will have defenses against an air attack. If you give us cover to land, we can get to it and take it out. We’ve got to keep that fleet here till help arrives.” 

“We hope,” Rose said as she ran by her. 

“We hope,” Freya repeated. 

Poe endorsed Freya’s plan over the comm. “You heard the woman. All wings, cover that lander!” 

The lander’s pilot shouted back to the Troop compartment. “This’ll be rough!” 

Freya gazes to Rose, catching sight of her necklace that hung the symbol of her homeworld; a half crescent of Haysian smelt. Its match had been worn by Rose’s sister, Paige, who had perished during the retreat from D’Qar. 

She touched Rose’s medallion. 

Over the past year, their paths had diverged a bit as General Organa had deployed Rose’s talents to develop new technology and techniques to prevent hyperspace tracking and placed Freya to pilot, getting resources and bringing in more allies to Ajan Kloss. But wherever life took them, Freya would forever be in debt to Rose for saving her life on Crait. She was the best the Resistance had to offer, and more than anything else, the greatest love of her life. 

She squeezed the medallion and then let it go, pecking her cheek sweetly then her lips. 

The girls and the others readied their blasters and BB-8 warbled as the lander eluded salvos of TIE laserfire on a fast descent, skidding across the Steadfast’s exterior in a shower of sparks. Before it had come to a complete stop, the hatch opened, the ramp extended, and the whole group ran out. 

As they charged toward the aft of the Destroyer, the transmission tower came into view. But transports landed before them, impeding their path. 

Out of the hatches jumped crimson armored Stormtroopers, a few equipped with jet packs. They immediately engaged the Resistance soldiers in a blaster fight. Freya, BB-8, Rose, and company were caught in a crossfire. 

The bump superstructure had its benefits. Freya ducked behind a generator box and waved the others to follow her. They did, and the group hurried across the Destroyer, bobbing and darting around whatever they could use as cover. 

While the team held off any attackers, Freya, Rose, and BB-8 made a mad dash across the final stretch. Freya stopped before a hull panel near the base of the tower. “Alright, BB-8. You’re up!” 

A squad of Troopers rushed toward them. Rose grabbed a thermo charge from her bandolier and threw it. The squad was blown backward. 

Freya fired her rifle at other Troopers, giving the droid time to do his work. The droid extended his tool arm and unlocked the panel in the hull. Rose, meanwhile, aimed her rifle at a Jet Trooper and fired. The blast struck the tank, propelling him back into a TIE fighter. The TIE careened and crashed into the Destroyer.

BB-8 having done his job, Freya wrenched open the hull panel. Rose deposited both of their bandoliers in the hole then set an activator and dropped it in. “This should do it.” 

When the panel slammed close, all three of them hurried away from it. 

Poe blasted TIE after TIE out of the sky. But the more he took out, the more that came back to take their place. There seemed to be an endless supply of the dagger-winged fighters, while the Resistance’s own tiny squadron was dwindling in rapid fashion. The Tantive IV held back from the battle, but it wouldn’t be long until the TIEs were able to swarm it. 

From the corner of his eye, he caught the navigation deck of the Steadfast exploding. He suddenly grinned and switched channels to his starfighters. “Nav signal’s down, but not for long.” The Resistance had only minutes to spare until the Destroyers’ flight engineers rerouted the signal to another transmitter. And Poe knew the First Order wouldn’t fall for the same trick twice. 

“Still no Falcon or backup,” Anya reminded everyone on the channel. 

R2-D2 made an inquiry on Poe’s monitor. “I don’t know, Artoo,” he said to the droid. “Maybe they didn’t find any allies. Maybe nobody’s coming.” 

“What do we do, General Dameron?” Aftab Ackbar asked. 

Poe dodged a TIE and reassessed the fleet. Unable to power their deflector shields in atmosphere, the Destroyers and their planet destroying superlasers were all vulnerable. And since their minutes were counting down, the Resistance would probably never get another chance like this again. 

He switched back to full broadcast. “We gotta hit them ourselves.” 

Tyce scoffed openly on her comm. “What can we do against those things?” 

“Just stay alive!” 

He wished he had something more inspiring to say, but survival was their best option until reinforcements arrived—if they ever did.

Down on Exegol, Avetllian kept his gleaming eyes on Nova as energy burst through and lit up his face. It was now haunting, twisted with deception and toxic power. The darksaber crackles rather than hum, making it sound like scraps of metal were being grinded up into bits by a Jakku Nightcrawler worm. 

Her eyes linger over to the crack in the wall from where they had entered, recalling seeing the numerous tanks and old, abandoned experiments that had the very pungent atmosphere of the Dark Side encircling it. She allowed the Force to carry her senses, and the whispers told her something. A secret. 

“You’re one of them, aren’t you?” She asks the question, trying to maintain calm. “A creation.” 

“A younger version of himself,” Avellian tries to correct her. “A—”

“A  _ clone _ .” 

The word triggers something within the older man and he glares at the young girl. “Let’s get one thing straight here _,_ ” Avellian seethes. “I’m not him, and I am _not_ a failed copy. I was better than the rest of them. I _was_ perfect.”

Triumph emanated from him, and along with it came knowledge, memories. Maybe it was their shared blood that enabled her to see his thoughts, but somehow Nova could, and she saw it then: 

The heretics of the Sith Eternal toiled, splicing genes, bolstering tissue, creating unnatural abominations in the hope that one of these strandcasts would succeed and become a worthy receptacle. The heretics would do anything, risk anything, sacrifice anything, to create a cradle for their god-consciousness. 

Avellian was created, a splitting image of the young Sheev Palpatine and had the touch of the Force. He was placed on a high pedestal, the heretics trying to recreate the exact same prototype but nothing ever came close to what Avellian was. ‘The Star Strand’, he was nicknamed and he was raised on Exegol to learn of galactic history, piloting, and training—he got so advanced that he even managed to learn how to manipulate magick. He was prepped and groomed to be the vessel for Palpatine’s mind, for he was the very same man. 

“The throne was meant to be mine, supposed to be given to me.” Avellian recalls. “But that all changed with Cassius.” 

Taking matters into his own hands and with a willing participant who was born on Exegol and raised by the Sith Eternal, the Emperor manipulated a woman’s midi-chlorians to create a son. The child thrived, though it took after his mother; a useless, powerless failure. But Palpatine came to care for his son, allowing him to leave Exegol and start a new life of his own. All while Avellian stood in the shadows, watching him leave. 

The memories fade out and Nova refocuses on Avellian, seeing those golden irises glue onto her face as he continues to rant with such strong emotions of resentment and scorn. 

“Your father then met the ever so lovely Maya on Bracca, and the bloodline continued through a more natural method. And it was through that eventual union, unexpected as it was, that  _ you _ were born.” He jabbed a finger in her general direction. “The _ perfect _ vessel,”

Nova takes another step back, putting distance between Avellian and her, her gloved hand still lingering near her lightsaber hilt. 

He then scoffs, reminiscing the day of her birth. “Everyone felt it, it awoke something in the Force and when it did, we all knew the truth of Nova Palpatine.” A pause. “That’s when the old, decrypted fool let his ambition go. Everything he did to me— _ for _ me— _ for _ years was suddenly forgotten about! All for the love of his son, and the love that Cassius had for you.” 

The lightning intensified in the chamber, reflecting against his contorted face. She could see for what he truly was now. 

“You’re the one who ordered Ochi to kill me.” Her eyes glistened but she refused to cry at a time like this. She held her ground and BD-1 beeps, hunkering down but still kept his own eyes on the man. 

“Winner winner!” He then beams happily as if he wasn’t mad just moments before. It was truly terrifying how quick he went from being a sinister being who hoarded a grudge to an acquaintance who had no care in the world in mere seconds. “I have to admit, Cassius was smarter than I originally thought. He managed to keep you hidden from Ochi and me for as long as he did. He even got Luke Skywalker to try and look out for you, but of course, I couldn’t have that. So I did what I had to do.”

Nova sensed it, shaking her head. “No,” she whimpers. “No.” 

“Yes.” He was amused. 

He was telling the truth, Nova knew it and it made it hurt even more. Snoke didn’t turn Ben Solo away from his parents, the light, and the Resistance. Avellian had, because of her. 

“Ochi got himself killed, Luke Skywalker was no longer a threat, your mother and stepfather were dead, and your father went missing. I grew tired of Exegol and went rogue, becoming my own person. Becoming who I was meant to be. Darth Avellian.”

A tear escaped Nova’s eye, sliding down her cheek and chin. 

“After years of searching, Snoke told me that he found you and when it came down to it, I just couldn’t bring myself to kill you because I felt your strength—your insolence. And you demonstrated it perfectly when you snapped those Praetorian Guards’ necks in order to save Ben and your sister.” Nova shoots him a look and he nods with delight. “Oh yes, I knew. I began thinking to myself, why should I kill Nova when she’s literally the only one who can get me back to Exegol and help me take what was rightfully mine in the first place?” 

Avellian takes a step towards Nova and another, closing in the distance while she is still holding ground but shifts weight between the both of her feet. He didn’t need the Force to know that she was intimidated by him, he could see it clear as day in her hazel eyes. 

“So I waited. The Resistance was in shambles, the new Supreme Leader was searching for Cassius himself; I figured it the perfect timing. It first started with Mon Cala, I needed you in trouble so Ben would return to back to the First Order with what he had learned. I watched you going after the Millennium Falcon when the riots began and clouded your mind, causing you to slow mentally and physically until that explosion went off and the Mon Calamari and Quarren took over the rest. The second was placing that transmission directly into your head, and giving General Armitage Hux an anonymous tip of an auction that was happening on Corellia with Resistance fugitives—which then earned me my spot of meeting him, you, and Ben.” 

The chanting of the crowd behind Nova lowers in soft volumes, them seemingly listening in on what their newest emperor was speaking about to his very grandchild.

“I told you three about the transmission, that Palpatine was alive and how you needed the wayfinders to get to Exegol. That was all there was, but something bothered me. You had no idea who you were, what you were capable of but I did and so did Ben, and the cyborg Elsie. I had to change that.” 

More memories exploded before her eyes and Nova was able to see what Avellian had orchestrated. 

He used his knowledge of magick to bewitch the training simulator to have real past Inquisitors to pry into her mental wall, leaving that message to be given to the Resistance about Palaptine being alive on Exegol. Being the one that told Nova that the wayfinder was on the transport, lying to her to cause fear, which then made her to tap into her hidden power and summon Force Lightning during the tug of war between her and her sister. Battling with Nova, forcing her to come face to face with her uncovered past that she hid deep within her mind to break her spirit. And lastly, on Kef Bir in hiding, he amplified Rey’s fear and anger towards Kylo and that’s what made her lash out and ultimately drive his own lightsaber into him. 

Nova throws away the visions, focusing back on Avellian to see him sheathing the darksaber. “Now you understand,” he turns, facing the throne and motions to it. “This is all for us.” 

“‘ _ Us’ _ ?” 

Avellian slowly peers over his shoulder at the younger girl, like he was bewildered with her comment and was taking a cautious approach to answering it. Suddenly, he beams and looks past her to the acolytes who have grown quiet. 

“The time has come,” he says, opening his arms to their audience and sauntering up by Nova. They cried out one shrill note in unison, then prostrated themselves. “Nova will ascend! She  _ will _ take the throne, and together, we’ll be one.” 

Nova was perplexed. Avellian  _ wanted _ her to take the throne? Was this a test of deception? She locked her feet in place, recalling what BD-1 told her about Cal believing in her—Nothing is set in stone. She would fight her fear and anger this time, she would not let it motivate her. She won’t trust him, she would trust in the Force.

“All you want of me is my power, and who I am, because as much as you disregard it . . . all you are is the echo youth of my grandfather, Sheev Palpatine.” 

He spun on his heel, head tilting toward her. “You believe you’re so high and mighty, when you’re just like the rest of them. You’re nothing, you’re just a scavenger girl. But it was me, who made you see for who you truly are! It was me who gave you the opportunity to be something greater than an orphaned scrapper!” Avellian shouts directly at her, the yellow around his pupils shifting to an orange-red. “You still wanna think that you’re better than me? Look around. There’s nobody here to save you—there’s no one! The only person you have here is me. I  _ am _ your family.” 

Holding back her grief and trying not to tremble, Nova still manages to hold her ground and shakes her head. “I’m not taking the throne.” 

“But you will, because I know you from the inside out.” 

The entire chamber rumbled. Dirt rained down as the ceiling split open, revealing a firefight in the sky. Lasers and explosions lit up the clouds. X-wings and other Resistance fighters engaged with the massive fleet of Star Destroyers and TIE fighters, and against such numbers, it was not a battle the Resistance would ever win. 

“Can you feel them dying? Hear their screams as no one is coming to help them?” He asks. “I imagine that’s what your mother Maya and stepfather Erik felt. What Bylsma, Hux, and Ben Solo did.” 

Nova didn’t need him to provoke her guilt. She had it already, watching an X-wing and then a pair of Y-wing bombers become fireballs. Avellian had led them here, that she was sure of but the fact remained that she could put an end to it and not just stand by like how she did for the Republic. 

“Join me, Nova,” he continued. “Take the throne. Reign over the New Empire and the fleet will be yours. Only you have the power to save them all.” 

As she stared at the battle, she felt the touch of the Force. It was so fast, so fleeting that she almost didn’t recognize it

“If you refuse, you’re no better than Palpatine calling for Order 66.” 

More Resistance ships were shot down. There were so few of them, and so many TIEs and Star Destroyers. She faced Avellian, forcing herself to nod. Though she said nothing, she knew Avellian could feel her desperation. They were of the same blood, after all. 

The clone of her grandfather grinned and snapped his fingers. Sensing another, Nova turns and sees Ap’Lek walking over with something in his hands as the other Knights of Ren followed in pursuit. She looks at them as they crowd around her and Avellian, all kneeling and Ap’Lek holds up his hands for her to unwrap the gift that they presented her with. 

When Nova uncovered it, she took it gently into her hands and paused momentarily to allow a few tears to escape her eyes for the last time. The throng behind Nova roared in approval. The girl kept on reminding herself that by joining Avellian, she could deliver a mortal blow to the First Order. She could call off the fleet, save the Resistance, and put a stop to the war for good. 

BD-1 desperately beeped for her to not do it but she felt like she didn’t have a choice. She was alone in a place that was home but certainly didn’t feel like it, with nothing but hope in that this could shift the tide for her sister’s safety. Nova would join Avellian as a Sith, after all, that’s what Erik had told her. 

There was no coming back from this, she knew. There’d be no forgiveness. No ifs, ands, or buts. No redemption from crawling out of the pits of despair and desperation. There’d be nothing, but that’s alright—she was already nothing with villainous, tainted blood.

To gain another small moment of clarity, Nova gazes to the sky to remind herself that was giving up her free will to provide those with survival and that made her smile one last time. 

Ben’s TIE avoided a blast and it wasn’t by his impeccable piloting skills, it was because his connection to Nova felt heavier and more taunt. The sudden feel of it caused him to jerk his vessel off to the side and save his life. He stared back, seeing the laser exploding another TIE and relief flooded through him before anxiety took back over. 

“Rey, come in. Finn, come in.” He dispatches. “Team Tandem, you there?” 

“We’re here.” Rey’s startled voice speaks, followed by the sound of lasers being fired and something exploding. 

“You get an opening to head down to Exegol?” He maneuvers his TIE around, blasting two with his guns. One begins following him and Ben swoops up and over a Destroyer at the last possible second, the TIE hitting the haul and turning into a fire upon impact. 

Rey gaped. “Currently trying. There’s too many of them, we can’t head down without being compromised.” 

Ben peers down at the planet, using the Force to search for Finn and Rey’s spacecraft and sees them fighting off a little squad of TIEs. His mind raced and he got an idea. He throws out his hand, using Force stasis to immobilize the group, his hand twitching here and there as he holds them off. 

“Go! Get to Nova.” 

“What about you?” Finn now spoke through his speaker, seeing the clear path that he had created for them. 

Ben eyed the entirety of the Resistance, seeing many getting shot down and then scans the hull of the Steadfast to see the ground force fighting off the Sith Troopers. They were losing this fight, and they couldn’t be left alone. 

“I’ll get there when I can.” Ben radios back. “Just save her.” 

Taking his words into consideration, Finn and Rey flew down to Exegol. 

Frey skirted Stormtrooper fire and ran with the others, BB-8 included, toward the lander. She was almost there when she noticed a nearby turbolaser cannon wasn’t firing at the Resistance craft. She slowed to take a better look. 

Rose stopped and turned back. “Freya, let’s go!” 

Freya surveyed the deck, observing the same everywhere. “The surface cannons stopped,” she said. “They’re resetting their systems.” 

Rose then understood. “I’m staying with you.” 

Freya nodded to Rose and they headed to the cannon. What looked small from the air was in reality an immense double-barreled piece of artillery. 

“If this is the command ship,” Rose began to theorize. “We take it down, com-scan goes down.” 

“Affecting every Star Destroyer in the galaxy,” Freya agrees. She was encouraged that Rose was thinking along the same lines as her. 

“This could throw the whole First Order fleet into chaos.” 

They didn’t even need to tell each other what to do. Freya started climbing the side of the cannon while Rose drew her blaster to provide cover. As of the moment, the Jet Troopers hadn’t seen them branch off from the others. 

A voice crackles over Freya’s comm. “Freya! Rose! Where are you? Lander’s leaving.” 

“Go without us,” Freya said into her comlink to Connix. “We’re taking this whole ship down! Take BB-8 with you. Now.” 

In the background, she could hear BB-8 expressing his worries and muted her comlink.

Crawling over the top of the cannon, she spotted the Fortitude launching from the Star Destroyer. Now it was just her and Rose with the weight of a thousand worlds on their shoulders. 

Ben Solo was strong in the Force, thanks to his mother’s family. But he also had his father’s luck, at least in the moment. 

He helped Anya live another day, her X-wing about to be blasted to bits but he intervened by using the Force to shoot the blast back and kill her assailant. He then used it to cause two TIEs to crash into each other and add a protective shield around the lander for easy take off. He had even channeled Elsie from within the Steadfast and released her from her bindings, telling her to free Hux and to make a quick escape as quickly as possible. His next move was making way for Exegol. 

After landing his TIE next to the cloud car, Ben ran and recklessly jumped down into the pit of Palpatine’s underground chambers but not before accidentally slamming directly into a thick, heavy chain. He hurried past the laboratory and hoped his luck would hold up long enough for him to join Finn and Rey, and to reconnect with Nova. He had already reached out to her very faintly to say he’d come, but he had to hide his presence immediately afterward. If Avellian knew he was there, Ben might never get Nova in time or one piece. 

That still might not happen anyway. 

Crimson armored Troopers were up ahead, firing at Rey and Finn as they blocked the bolts with their sabers and redirected them back at their attackers. Finn sensed his arrival and turned, giving a nod to the older man as Rey took out the last Trooper with ease. 

“Was wondering when you’ll help us out.” Finn teases to lighten the mood but he sees that look on Ben’s face and loses his charm. “Not good, is it?”

Ben frowns. “We’re losing. The Falcon still hasn’t returned. And we’re running out of time.” He says the last part, gazing to a cleft in the rock wall. Something was tugging him forwards, and his feet followed in suit. 

Rey gives Finn an exchange of worry and he holds her hand tight as they enter in the narrow passageway behind Ben and walks around the throne of the Sith to see Avellian standing all by himself and admiring the sight of the battle filled sky. To him, it was like watching fireworks and he stood proudly before it all, basking in the glory. 

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” He speaks to the three. “All the colors. Reminds me of a celebration.” 

Avellian slowly turns about, he wears a new outfit of silver armor and black cloth, the shoulders in pleated padding. A grin was upon his lips as his arms were placed behind his back perfectly. His golden eyes pierce as they stuck on the individuals that stood before him; the sister, the lover, and the friend. 

“And what a celebration this is.” Avellian remarks. 

Emerging from the shadows armored in makeshift metal and welding rusty weapons, the Knights of Ren closed in. Finn inspects the men, their powers menacing and their essence felt empty, cold, and desolate, just like Exegol. He stands closer to Rey, lightsaber hilt in hand as he eyes Ben, knowing that they used to follow his lead. That had now changed.

Ben suspected as much from the dark warriors; they were adepts that emerged to fill the void left by the demise of the Sith Lords. They had adhered to the ways of a philosophy epitomized by the Ren lightsaber, roaming across the galaxy to cause wanton destruction as devotees of the Dark Side. They fed on hate and death like rabid animals, their bloodlust palpable like they were grenades ready to explode. It was obvious now to Ben that the Knights had come from the Unknown Regions themselves, and under the influence of Darth Avellian. 

“Kylo Ren turned Ben Solo.” Avellian acknowledged in a throaty tone. “How does it feel to have done what Snoke told you wasn’t possible? Feels good, doesn’t it?” 

“We’re nothing alike,” Ben proclaimed.

“I killed my useless older master who brought me up on Sith ideals, and you’ve done the same.” 

“I did kill Snoke,” he nods. “I’ll kill you too.” 

“My boy, I made Snoke,” Avellian continued. “It’s been I who has been every voice”—his tone shifted to inflect the snarl of the dead Supreme Leader—“you have ever heard”—then to the deep bass of Darth Vader—“inside your head.” 

The revelation confirmed Ben’s suspicion that the voices in his head from childhood had originated from a single source. 

A scared beep signals and Ben’s eyes shift over, seeing BD-1 with a cuff on his foot that prevented him from scurrying about. That struck an icy cold stake straight through him, rendering him breathless. Nova had been so attached to the little adventure droid that seeing it alone and off to the side just told him that something was seriously wrong. 

“Where is she, Sheev?” He speaks. 

“Where’s who?”

He takes a step forward and the Knights all draw their weapons, aiming them at Ben. He stands still, not making another move. “Where’s Nova?” 

“My apologizes, Mr. Solo, but I have no idea who that is.” Avellian taunts, smugness written all over his face. 

It was now Rey’s turn. “What  _ did _ you do to  _ my _ sister?” 

Avellian turns as if he discovers the younger girl for the first time, eyes sparkling with intent that could only be described as minacious. “Oh no, young Rey. It isn’t what I’ve done, it’s what you and young Solo did.” He counters, scrutinizing them. “And I must admire you for your work.”

Fissures in the floor crackled with electricity from the energy storm that roiled far below and Ben drew quiet, a looming sensation behind him and he tilted his head ever so slightly to peer over his shoulder. 

The man before them motions to the throne of the Sith. “Look what you have made.” 

The three rotate themselves around, facing the dark throne. There sat a dark figure and it tilted up its head in a predatory way before standing up on both feet slowly and locked gaze with the trio. 

“My grandchild,” 

Lightning flashed to divulge the old mask of Kylo Ren, the very same one that was smashed apart in a fit of rage on the Mega Destroyer. Liquid metal held the mask together in gold ribbons that resembled scars, and Ben recognized it as being Sarrassian iron; a metal that was found on asteroids that resided in Aniras belt. Ancient Sith alchemists had valued it in crafting weapons and armor, for it contained special particles that resonated with the Dark Side of the Force. 

The helmet looked more intimidating than it did before. The visible golden cracks split the silver bands around the eye slot and gashed the hinged mouth plate. The mask now seemingly mocked him, for it was worn by Nova. 

“My grandchild,” 

The helmet hisses, Nova talking the helmet off her head to display yellow irises which covered the beautiful honey green that Ben came to know and love. Her cheeks and eyes look sunken in, giving her an appearance of a reanimated corpse. 

“Empress Palpatine.” Avellian announces and the Sith loyalists surrounding them responded with a ceremonial chant so loud and deep it shook the very ground. 

The Final Order fleet came to life powerfully, thrusters all burning hot and blue. Poe knew right then that this was an urgent matter more important than the TIEs. Normally, capital ships wouldn’t fire their thrusters until they were in orbit, to prevent collateral damage to the planet and also minimize any atmospheric interference with the engines. But with Exegol, it was already a ruined would, so thrust burn couldn’t harm it any further. And there were so many Star Destroyers in the fleet that losing even a couple in an engine accident wouldn’t put a dent in it. Their priority was getting the warships into space and out of the Unknown Regions—which Poe’s Resistance had to stop, at all costs to them. 

“Those thrusters are hot,” Poe told the squadron. 

“Fleet’s locking on to another navigational signal. They’re gonna split!” Anya frowns, shooting her last set of proton torpedoes at a Star Destroyer superlaser. They struck their target dead center and the world destroying weapon was neutralized. 

“This is it!” Snap Wexley hollered over the squadron’s channel. His torpedoes also found their mark on another Destroyer’s superlaser, blowing it apart. 

But there remained scores of Destroyers with their weapons intact. Poe could have had a dozen squadrons under his command and he still wouldn’t have been able to dismantle them all. The effort to torpedo the superlasers had taken the squadron’s focus off the TIE fighter, which only grew in number. Entire squadrons chased down individual Resistance fighters, creating death traps Poe’s pilots couldn’t escape. 

  
  



	31. Do As You Must

Kallie Lintra was the latest casualty. Eight TIEs came at her A-wing from all directions, firing their cannons. She took out three, and the TIEs shot down two of their own, but Kallie’s A-wing was turned into a blazing wreck. 

Poe took a deep breath. They’d lost her sister, Tallie, when TIE missiles hit the hangar of the Raddus during the evacuation of D’Qar. Now they’d lost Kallie, too. 

Poe sideslipped between two TIEs, locating Snap’s X-wing on his scope and how the ship’s icon was being chased down by three TIEs. “Snap, they’re on your tail.”

It sounded like the pilot hand it handled. “Yeah, I see ‘em.” 

But he didn’t see another one coming up on him. 

“No, no, no, Snap. Snap!” Poe yelled. His cockpit canopy darkened to shield him from a bright explosion. 

Snap had just made the ultimate sacrifice for the Resistance. 

So too, had Lieutenant Vanik, whose A-wing also disappeared from Poe’s tracker. Ad had most of the other fighters in Poe’s squadron. 

Swooping around a Destroyer, Poe discovered he would soon add to their number. More than two dozen TIEs raced at him. He triggered his cannons, weeding out some, but that made little difference. One of them was going to get a lucky shot at him. 

“Alpha Leader, do we retreat?” Tyce asked. 

Poe hated the idea of retreating. But even in his final moments, as a leader of the Resistance, he was responsible for all of them. 

More calls came in, all panicked and some cutting out from being blown to bits. 

“Alpha Three is down.” 

“They’re on my tail! I can’t—” A blood curdling scream signifies. 

“They’re everywhere!”

“Poe,” Anya’s voice then crackled over the commlink. “What are we going to do?” 

He listened to their pleas and it hurt him more than anything; once again he let down the Resistance, he let down Leia who was surely sensing their losing battle from the jungle cave of Ajan Kloss with C-3PO and D-O. Poe takes a moment to collect himself to the best of his ability, salty tears filling his eyes. 

“My friends,” he tries to say in a calm voice, not wanting to spread more fear into their hearts and remain strong willed, but it’s shaky. He was shaky. “I’m sorry. I thought we had a shot . . . But there’s just too many of them.” 

Poe imagined how his life was going to end in the skies of Exegol, but he couldn’t let the same fate befall the Resistance. A spark had to remain. 

“But there’s more of us, Poe.” A smooth voice came over the comm. “There’s more of us.” It was Lando. 

Poe swung his X-wing around, rising over the hull of a Destroyer to find a massive armada descending through the atmosphere. There were ships of all makes and models: starfighters and tramp freighters, corvettes and capital ships. He saw a Ghtroc 720 and a VCX-100. A Firespy class patrol craft flying with a Pursuer class enforcer. Wookie gunships and Gauntlet and Durosian fighters. Even a few old Z-95 Headhunters, a restored Cronian battlebird, and a S-161 “Stinger” XL luxury yacht. These were but a few of the thousands of vessels arrayed before him, and more and more were appearing from lightspeed. 

Leading them all was one antiquated YT-1300 freighter, the Millennium Falcon.

“Look at this.” Poe looked on in complete admiration. “ _Look at this!_ ” The gambler and the Wookie had done it. The spark had become an inferno. 

For once, Aftab Ackbar didn’t sound anxious. “The allies, they’re here!” 

“The whole galaxy’s here!” Anya gaped, grinning. 

Upon hearing the transmission, Freya stood atop the Steadfast hull cannon, gasping at the countless ships that arrived with the Falcon. She shook her fist in the air. “Dad, you did it! You did it!” 

Poe’s X-wing swoops in behind the Falcon, joining the fleet and radios to everyone. “Hit those underbelly cannons! Every one we knock out is a world saved!” 

The Millennium Falcon sped up toward the Star Destroyers, its cannons firing away. The armada followed, pelting the Sith fleet with laserfire, concussion missiles, and proton torpedoes. 

Numbers weren’t a problem anymore. For the first time in the way against the First Order, the Resistance had the advantage. They had the ships. They had the people. 

The Star Destroyers buckled under the attack. They were so close together, many collided. Others lost their repulsors and began to tumble toward the surface. Gigantic vessels armed to destroy planets could not destroy the smaller vessels of the Resistance. 

Anya was concentrated on the TIE fighters. Reenegerized by the appearance of allies, she started chasing down TIEs, shooting them from the sky. A Y-wing joined her in the attack, not only replicating her tricky maneuvers but often blasting the pursued TIEs before she could. 

“So long, sky trash.” The pilot remarks. 

Anya went wide eyed. “Zorii?” 

“Hey little Spice Runner.” She remarks and a wild “hey-heeeeeeyy!” echoed in the background. 

Hearing their voices exhilarated Anya. “Zorii! Babu! You made it!” Somehow she had escaped Kijimi in time and was flying by her side with little Babu Frik in the cockpit. 

Poe smiled widely upon hearing Anya over the commlink and took another look around at the Resistance fleet, he felt something he hadn’t felt in a long time. Hope. 

The heat flashes the storm within the cathedral illuminate Nova’s gaunt face and Ben just couldn’t look away from her. She looked tortured, ruined, and their connection felt weighed down as if something was smothering it. Behind the golden irises that belong to the Sith, he could see them being glazed over as if she were under a spell. In those eyes, he searched and searched, finally found what had happened moments earlier. Memories of hers.

Avellian had struck Palpatine down, absorbing his power then revealed his entire self to her. In a sense, Avellian was actually her grandfather since he was a clone but that’s not what the major factor was. It was that the Resistance was being slaughtered and Nova wanted to save them, Avellian telling her that if she didn’t then she was a monster. 

The Knights of Ren brought out the mask. They had it fixed by a Sith alchemist named Albrekh and made especially for Nova at Avellian’s request. They handed it over and she took it in her hands, feeling the dark energy that radiated within it and allowed herself to cry, but only for a brief second. She was sacrificing herself to save those in need, and it was all falling into place for Avellian. 

He forcibly grabbed her, transferring all the power that he had taken from Palpatine and forced it into her. She dropped the mask, trying to fight him off but the intensity of the essence was too much and she was weak mentally, which eventually allowed it to take over. Her eyes transformed and all the Sith who had resided within Palpatine, now resided in her. 

Nova was being a puppet on a lonely string, one that was being orchestrated by Avellian. 

“You lied to her,” Ben glares back at Avellian. 

“Lied is such a harsh word, Ben.” He says sweetly. “I prefer mislead.” 

“You told her that if she joined you, she’d have control over the fleet and that she’d save the Resistance.” 

“And she does have control over the fleet, but she’s not in charge.” Avellian explains. “Palpatine harnessed all the energy of the past Sith into him and that’s what kept him alive for so long, not just clone’s bodies. That’s why Nova was perfect, she was born a Palpatine, not created in a laboratory. She could handle the souls of the Sith that resided in him—” 

“And you couldn’t.” Ben cuts him off. 

Avellian snickers, nodding in agreement. “I may have the Force, but I don’t have the power that she has. However, I do have very deceptive skills and that’s why we’re all here.” He places out his arms, motioning to all around them. “Nova chose this.” 

“You manipulated her, just like—”

“Just like your grandfather and the Inquisitors. Where do you think I got the inspiration from?” Avellian interrupts Ben and grins, revealing his teeth. “I made her face the reality of who she was and what happened to her mother and stepfather, making her lose hope. I fabricated that Armitage died and had Rey seemingly kill you to ruin her ability to fight. I then broke her down mentally and emotionally, to break her soul. Then when she offered herself up and opened her mind, I thrust all the Emperor’s surging and unforgivable power directly into her body.” 

Rey draws her hilt, igniting her magenta blade. “You tortured her! She doesn’t deserve any of this.” 

“It’s _not_ about deserve!” Avellian shouts at the girl. “It’s about what was promised, and I was promised the throne and with Empress Palpatine by my side, I’ll be unstoppable. We’ll just be like Palpatine and Vader.” 

“Not if we have anything to do about it,” Finn ignites his green blade and drops down into a fighting stance with Rey. 

“Everything is proceeding exactly as I have foreseen,” he utters to himself and steps back, allowing fighting room for the Knights and for Rey, Finn, and Ben. “Begin.” He taunts. 

Without a word needing to be exchanged, the three knew their roles in this battle. They’d all fight the Knights and when half of them were vanquished, Ben would make his way to break Nova from her mental prison and bring her back to him. It was a good plan; actually, it was their only plan. And they went to work. 

Ben blasted Cardo away from him with his hand, sending him onto this back and Ushar, Kuruk, and Ap’lek had done the same with Ben. Finn went in, striking at Vicrul but he blocked with his scythe and Rey went after Trudgen, hitting the blunt end of his vibrocleaver which sends powerful vibrations through her arms. 

Ben recovered, getting up and in that very instant, Ushar’s club hit him in the left side of his face. The Knight then twirls and whacks him from under the chin which sent his head backwards from impact. Cardo then got up, punching Ben in the gut with his arm cannon which robbed the boy from air. Down on his knees he fell, holding where he had been hit and stares up at Ap’Lek who violently punches him in the face. His body slants off to the side, hitting the gravel floor of the chamber. 

Cardo spun to Rey, aiming his arm cannon at her and activated his flamethrower. She threw off Trudgen just in time, spinning around and used Force stasis to freeze the fire in place and sent it back at him. He gets engulfed in flames and they dissipate from his heavy armor being fireproof and she leaps over, striking him in the face with her lightsaber. His helmet gets fractured, revealing the face of an older boy with pale skin and an frightened blue eye. Rey froze in place upon the exposed skin, realizing that they weren’t monsters. They were human warriors who must’ve been corrupted like how her sister had been. 

The fright turns malicious and he withdraws his blaster pistol, shooting at her but she quickly dodges with her blade, sending the beams of fire all over and one of them hits Trudgen. Back he fell into a chasm, his body stiff as he plunged directly into the storm that brewed down below the surface. 

One Knight down, five left. 

Finn kept his battle with Vicrul, both of them hitting weapons over and over again repeatedly. He kept on seeing how the older boy would gaze over to Nova every once in a while and Finn was curious, letting his words speak. “You care about her?” 

“You’re not getting in my head.” Vicrul growls and swings for Finn’s head but the young Jedi ducks and Force pushes him back. He holds still, his feet firm and drawing lines in the dust. 

“You know this is wrong, what Avellian did to her.” Finn tries to resonate with him. “Help us, and we can help you. Please.” 

“I fight to protect my Empress” He tells Finn and heaves his scythe, connecting it with the lightsaber and having it spit sparks. “And you’re in the way.” 

The man’s conditioning was too far and he was too gone to reach and it hurt Finn to say the least. He wanted the boy to know that there was another life that he could have but he had more years under his sleeve then what Ben or even he had as a Stormtrooper. The Knights could not be reasoned with and they would have to be struck down, otherwise they’d kill them and the Resistance would not survive. 

Rey fed off Finn’s energy and she moved in close to Cardo, bringing down her blade onto his flamethrower and split it in half. His arm broke away, a clean cut and before she could do anything else he thrust out his hand that held the blaster and knocked her off her feet. Her lightsaber deactivates, falling out of her grasp and when she tries to reach for it, Cardo shoots at her hand. She rolls away quickly before she gets struck by the line of fire, pushing herself up and onto her feet to be met with Ap’Lek. He throws one of his smoke canisters on the ground, it explodes and makes the whole area dark and dim. 

Rey coughs into her arm, trying to open her eyes and see around her. “Finn?” 

“Rey!” He yells out to her and parries Vicrul’s attack, but felt himself getting anxious from the Knight. It seemed that Finn’s worst fears were manifesting and it was from the business of Vicrul. He tried to step away from the pull, but it was too strong for him to back away. 

Ben groans, awaking and gazes around as he gains footing. The Knights were somewhere within the cloud of black smolder with Finn and Rey, and he didn’t see any sign of Avellian but he did hear BD-1’s beeps that told him to focus on the throne. He does, seeing Nova just standing still like a lifeless droid, awaiting orders. 

“Nova,” he utters through his split lip and stumbles up towards her. “Nova, can you hear me?” 

The girl focused forwards, unresponsive and he tried to yank on their mental link. Nothing. 

“Nova—” 

Kuruk shoots but Ben moves out of the way, collapsing onto the ground and gets up with a struggle. The pilot of the Knight Buzzard was somewhere, hiding, using his custom rifle to get in easy shots. He reaches for his back pocket where he clipped the Skywalker lightsaber but it wasn’t there. 

“Looking for this?” Avellian steps out from the haze and holds the lightsaber, studying it. “I see it’s been fixed, and now in your possession, but that doesn’t make you a Jedi.” 

The two circle around each other and Avellian examined his bruised and cut face. 

“Didn’t say it did.” Ben remarks. 

“It certainly makes you look foolish.” They come to a stop. Avellian now stands in front of Nova. “You fell in love with a girl who’s the descendant of an evil Sith ruler, just like how your worthless father did. The Solo doesn’t fall far from the gamble.” 

Ben’s eyes linger back up at Nova and he desperately tries again to use his energy to connect with her. 

“Try all you want, they’re not going to allow you to.” Avellian informs him. “Maul, Revan, Plagueis, Bane, Dooku, Nihl . . . They’re all a part of her now. All to help her unleash her true potential.” He gave a small pause and gazed back at Nova, an endearing smile plastered on his lips. “Her insolence shall make the galaxy kneel.” 

In the fog, Rey stumbled upon her lightsaber and ignited the blade to help her sort out her surroundings. The moment she did, Ushar came for an attack and she blocked his club. She parried, then disengaged and stabbed. Her blade tip stabbing through his chest, sizzling. Rey pulls it free, the Knight falling onto the ground in a heap. 

Near in the distance, as the smoke was finally clearing, she saw Finn fighting Ap’lek and Cardo. She hurried over, dashing within the Force but got sidetracked whenever Kuruk’s rifle shots peppered all around her. Rey channeled the Force, signaling out his location and flung her lightsaber wildly. It boomerang around, fighting the Knight and struck him down before returning into her grasp. Continuing on, she joined Finn’s side and took on Cardo, his reflexes heightened which made it hard for her to land a blow. He whacked her in the back with the butt end of his blaster pistol and she yelped, being reminded of when she fought against Luke Skywalker. She conjured up her anger and let the fury take over, her swings fast and never buckling, forcing him back. He fired once, twice, and on the third, Rey threw her hand out. Using the Force, she causes Cardo to collapse under his own weight, kneeling down and throws him back into the darkness. 

Finn’s strokes were polished, striking Ap’Lek’s axe and forcing the Knight back, closer and closer to a giant fissure in the ground. He made over the head bring downs repeatedly, then jabbed, striking the warrior in the shoulder and it burned a hole through his armor and skin. He then withdrew his green saber and as Ap’Lek was ready to denote another smoke canister, Finn called on the Force and caused it to erupt into his face which obscured his vision. The Knight double stepped backwards, losing footing and fell into the pit below. 

Vicrul was the remaining Knight. 

Rey and Finn run up to each other, briefing checking to make sure the other was alright. There were a few scrapes, not enough damage to make the other worry. The Tandem then gaze over to where Ben and Avellian stood with Vicrul and Nova, hurrying over to stand with them. 

“I’m impressed with you, Rey and Finn. Such promise to the Resistance, to the Jedi. Unfortunately for you, this is the end of the story for the rebellion.” 

Avellian clips the Skywalker saber to his belt, and calls on Nova. Her body comes to life and she struts down from the throne, helmet still in hand as her long dark cape flows out from behind her. 

“Empress Palpatine,” he orders with much glee. “Do as you must.” 

Nova placed the helmet back onto her head, the mask hissing as it clamps close and her right hand reaches for her lightsaber. Flicking out her arm, the red blade ignites viciously and Ben noticed how the blade made a more menacing sound than it had before. She twirls it behind her back then brings it up, joining her left hand to the hilt and leaps down onto Finn with the help of the Force. He reacts quickly, igniting his. Green and red, interlocked and Nova pressed down hard on him which made his knees wobble from the incredible pressure brought on by her newfound abilities.

Rey could feel her sister’s anger, like waves of heat radiating off of her. She ignites her own magenta blade, hoping that she came from a corner attack that Nova would back off. Rey charged forwards and as she raised her blade, Nova kicked Finn out and away from her, and blocked her oncoming attack horizontally. Staring into the mask, Rey could see her own reflection as their lightsaber sparked, locking together in place and sizzling. Nova then extinguishes her blade, stepping out of the way as Rey fell through and landed onto her stomach, face full of Exegol’s dust. 

The girl then turned on Ben who was weaponless and raised her lightsaber. 

“Nova, it’s me.” He tried to use their connection yet again. “It’s me, Nova. It’s me.” 

She swung and he bent back, avoiding the tip of her blade harrowingly, and she kept the slices going. Ben evaded and used the Force here and there to bat away her lightsaber but it was no use. 

Nova was suddenly jerked back, being Force pulled by Rey so Ben had time to recuperate, and how Nova didn’t like that one bit. Finn stood next to Rey, the two of them igniting their blades and watched as Nova tore off her cape, leaving her only in her bodysuit and she sprinted straight for them. The girl lashed out with her lightsaber, chopping and dicing. The two deflected her but could not sustain her defense without stepping back. And back. And back. 

Staggering, Finn’s one parry couldn’t match the strength of Nova’s swing. It cast his lightsaber out of his grasp. Nova spins, her lightsaber outstretched and he ducks the second she does. Finn extends a hand, the Force warding her off and at first it worked, but she slashed into the iron shield of his will. Rey intervenes again and Nova throws out a hand to her, her sister’s body losing all momentum as it slims into an invisible wall. 

Ben recovered, getting himself up to see Avellian uttering to Vicrul and extended out his hand, calling to the Skywalker lightsaber. It flew from Avellian’s belt and into his palm with a smack, the blue blade igniting and he ran straight for Nova as she was busy. He was determined to break through to her, if that meant by fighting with lightsabers to the death, then he’d accept the darkness that’d swallow him whole when his time was done. 

Sensing him, Nova deactivates her lightsaber, clips it at her side then throws out her other hand to Ben’s lightsaber. His hand that wielded it in place began shaking rapidly, the blue blade beginning to flicker off and on—she was corrupting his kyber crystal, disrupting the flow of the Force within it.

Still in his cuff that rendered his movement and flight, BD-1 beeps repeatedly to Finn and he groans. Though he couldn’t understand his droidspeak, he was able to sense that it meant for him to get his ass up and save Nova, and to help Ben. 

The man did get himself up, and he batted the lightsaber at her but Nova bends back effortlessly and without a sweat, releasing her hold on Rey and Ben. He slashes but she moves fluidly, smirking from under her mask and swoops under his one low swing at her midsection. She gets behind him, activating her lightsaber once again and tries to get in a sneaking hit but Finn moves fast, blocking her blade. Over on the right, Ben and Rey came charging with their lightsabers and Nova jerked the hilt of her saber as their blades came down. Her second red blade sprang to life, stopping Ben and Rey’s in their tracks and their eyes grew in size. 

Nova pushed them off with the sheer will and power, the three stumbling back and over their feet. She flourished her dual lightsaber in two hands, spinning it around and around in front of her body so fast that the blades gave off the illusion that she had a giant shield protecting her body. She broke in a sudden stance, placing her weapon behind her back and held out her left hand, flexing her fingers to motion them for an attack if they dared. 

Finn went first again and he swung, Nova blocked him effortlessly. Finn adjusted, going for an under blow but she blocked that too. He then tried an over the head bring down but she deflected once again and duck down quickly as he tried to aim at her mask. From behind, Nova kicked him and lunged forward before he could recover his balance, or even turn to face her. Finn spun quickly, feeling the dark power and defended himself. With mighty and pivotal eight figure strokes from the girl, their blades connected repeatedly. The Jedi was holding up, matching Nova’s fighting prowess blow for blow.

The boy felt the anguish of Nova’s need to kill him, but she had been corrupted and turned into a vessel for the past Sith. It gave her an advantage that Finn could not match unless he let go of his own despair and let the living Force move him—the Force that bound all living things together, even Finn and this new, deadly, evil Nova. 

They were engaged in battle for several minutes, and Nova had not let up. Finn, on the other hand, was already sweating hard, and not just from the physical effort of the duel. All the humidity was making the air in the chamber feel more scorching than Ajan Kloss’s climate. 

Nova did a full swing counter and at the last possible moment, taking Finn by surprise, jerking her saberstaff upwards and sliced directly through his lightsaber’s hilt. He stood, weaponless and she threw out a hand, twisting her wrist around. A rush of dark power lifted Finn off his feet and choked the air from his lungs. He clawed at his neck as it clenched tight, making him gasp for sweet air until he passed out. Nova threw him off to the side without a care and set her target on Rey. 

The two sisters ran for one another, meeting in the middle and Nova thrusted upwards with her saberstaff horizontally, using it to defend herself from Rey’s onslaught. She then went on offense, swinging from left to right, up and over, and Rey dodged and leaped. It was taking every skill of the younger sister just to stay alive. It seemed Nova clouded Rey’s use of the Force, making it hard to sense her moves and counter them in time. 

Rey managed to strike Nova away and the girl fell onto her back from losing her place, pushing herself off and flipping up onto her feet with vengeance broiling off of her. She leaped forwards and began fighting more fiercely than Rey had ever seen before. 

Rey blocked one awful stroke and parried another, then struck back. Nova blocked and then slammed the wide handle of her lightsaber into Rey’s chin. Rey staggered backward, half dazed from the force of the unexpected blow. Nova grinned in triumph, reversing her lightsaber and attacked relentlessly, backing her up. All Rey’s efforts could not break through her guard, and Rey was tiring all while her sister seemed as fresh as ever. Nova brought her lightsaber down hard against Rey’s blade and the girl stumbled, almost falling back but stabilized herself. The girl lunged again with her weapon, and the two girls exchanged a sift series of hits. 

Rey swung hard and connected with the black armor plate on Nova’s left shoulder plate. A vocoded grunt sounded from her bigger sister as bright sparks exploded from the plate but she never lost her grip on her lightsaber, and she swung again at Rey. It was hard. It was, perhaps, the hardest thing Rey had ever tried to do—fighting her own family. Nova was her sister, her dearest friend, and as much as she wanted to believe it, she could not save the woman who had spared her life so many times. 

Rey dodged the attack, darted past her to where Avellian and Vicrul stood, then leaped behind them. She figured to begin utilizing her pain at the two who caused her sister to be someone else and stabbed Vicrul through the back. She then attempted to strike Avellian but he withdrew the Darksaber and the two connected.

While the two of them began their own dueling, Nova faces Ben whose lightsaber kept on flickering since she tainted the kyber and leaped for an attack. Ben fought with everything he had but he was positive, with the sureness that came from any Force driven insight, that he would die at Nova’s hands. 

His lightsaber came up in an instinctive parry. They had sparred together, and knew each other so well, that they knew each other’s favorite moves. Ben hardly had to think to counter Nova’s attack. Lightsabers humming, they battled their way across the cathedral’s floor. His arms moved, weaving light into a deadly shield against all of Nova’s strokes. Nova did a backflip, distancing herself from him and he knew it was because their connection was trying to hinder itself back together. Realizing that there was a chance to break through to Nova, Ben Force pulled her forward a little too hard which caused her slam against the floor. 

Nova lost her grip on her lightsaber and it skidded over to Ben, him picking it up to examine it in surprise. He watched as the girl sprang back up onto her feet, tearing off the mask and Ben peered into the Sith eyes, her long dark brown hair had fallen out of it’s bun and framed her face which still made her appear angelic. Before he could form words to say, Nova charged and was on him in no time. Her left hand gripped Ben’s right wrist, holding off the deadly lightsaber; her right hand fought to repossess her own weapon. 

Nova’s insolence and her capability to house the power of the Sith proved her stronger than flesh and bone. She wrenched her lightsaber away, and attacked once more. Ben smacks her lightsaber away and he goes for a hit at her right shoulder plate but she jerks that side of her body out of the way, bringing her elbow back and hits him in the jaw, gut, and back in the face. When he faulted, Nova powerfully kicked him in the chest then swung her body down and around. With her other leg, she punted the Skywalker saber from his hand and as he tried to call for it, Nova dropped down and took his leg out from under him. 

BD-1 had trilled a warning to the boy.

Heading the news from the droid, Ben rolled away as Nova flipped, her lightsaber blades slashing the ground with burn marks. He called on the Force, thrusting his hand into the ground which propelled him up into the air and to land on his feet. Extinguishing her one blade, Nova went for another strike but Ben caught her arm, rotating her around and held her back to his front. Her lightsaber hovering before her own face, casting them both in a scarlet glow as she fought to be free of his release. 

“Nova,” he whispers into her ear gently. “I know you’re in there. Follow my voice.” 

Nova whipped her head back, Ben groaning and releasing his hold on her. She lashes out with her single blade but he avoids being hit, weaving his body through until she grows irritated and juts out her chin. His body flew back, hitting hard on the ground and landing by where his lightsaber had vanished to. He grabs it as Nova dives with a strike, straddling his lap, and he blocked her fearful blade as flares and sparks signified. 

With the interlock, Nova rounded their clashed lightsabers around. Hers ended up being discarded but in place she took and wielded the Skywalker hilt. She double handed the hilt, raising it up above her head as the blue beam began to flicker and brought it down forcibly. Ben shouts as the lightsaber finds its place over his heart and he eyes it in shock, a moment of bewilderment hazed over him. The blade had spasmed, shutting off as soon Nova tried to smite him. The Solo luck was still with him.

Nova was breathing heavily, her eyes widened with fright as she stared into his honey brown eyes. She was still in her own mind, trapped and able to comprehend what was going on. 

“Nova,” his voice was softer than it was before. 

Her gloved hands shook and she grunted, trying to press the emitter deeper down into his chest. The hilt was trying to cast a blue blade but the kyber was too severed from the tune of the Force.

“It’s okay,” Ben’s hands found hers, enclosed around them, holding them tight. “It’s okay. I’m right here.” 

Lightning flashes and Ben is able to see her face for the first time within the dim, grey-blue light. They weren’t as yellow as they were before, holding a more neutral color and with hope stirring inside of him, he lingers his hand up to cup her cheek. Tingles shot through him, their mental link being dug up and uncovered. 

“Nova, come back,” his voice began to say. “ _I love you_.” 

Those three words, those three magical words caused the girl to blink and a hidden tear was released from somewhere underneath her hard exterior. Nova leaned into his touch, tilting her face so her lips touched the palm of his hand and breathed in deeply. Her hollowed cheeks were in bloom, filling back to how they were and the bags under her eyes lightened. Once her eyes carefully opened, they no longer held the yellow of the Sith but rather the honey-green that Ben recognized very well. 

He lifted his other hand, framed her cheeks and brought her forehead down to his as her hands let go of the Skywalker saber, letting it roll off to the side. Ben held her so close, allowing their bond through the Force to rekindle.

It was shortly lived though, when they felt a tremor within it. The two turned, seeing Rey battling Avellian and Finn who had gained consciousness. Rey used her pink lightsaber and Finn harnessed the Force but it all came tumbling down when Avellian called on the Force for himself and impaled them. Their feet tore off the ground, backs arched, their arms thrown rapidly back behind them as they lost all feeling which sent Rey’s lightsaber flying somewhere. 

He then raised his hands again and drew their very essence in the Force from them. Finn felt himself weaken as his life ebbed away, while Rey felt as if she were on fire—the energy ate at the soul. Avellian smiled as he took away what made the two Jedi a Tandem in the Force. Finn could no longer withstand the intense waves of energy that left him and neither could Rey, both them dropped and collapsed onto the stone floor. 

“Avellian!” 

He turns, his eyes glowing more vivid as Nova stood next to Ben with a freed BD-1, both with their lightsabers at the draw. 

Avellian regarded them both with a sneer. “You didn’t think it’d be that easy, did you?” 

His hand raised to Nova, calling out to all the dark power of the Sith who had come before that resided within her. Avellian pulled it from her body, it pouring from her like a river of blood. Nova bellows out in anguish, trying to withstand the pain but from after being taken over and now being drained, she grew tired. And before she knew it, it was over and Ben caught her.

Completing the transfer, Avellian cackles to himself and it was the very same phantom laugh that had belonged to the old Emperor. He was now able to withstand the full power of all the Sith from stealing the very life essence of Rey and Finn. 

“The life force of your bond, a Dyad in the Force. A power like life itself, unseen for generations.” He began to announce as he felt burly and magnificent, eyeing a struggling Nova and a very aware Ben. “They had that same power”—he points over to the bodies of Rey and Finn—“and it was that very bond, that’s allowed me to have this.” 

He stood tall in his rejuvenated body, placing out his hands to the sky and Nova felt what he was about to do. She ignites her one crimson blade and throws her lightsaber at him, using the Force to angle it around but Avellian brings out his Darksaber in a swift movement, blocking it. The lightsaber flew directly back and Nova caught it with ease in her left hand, eyes narrowing on the man who was the young version of her grandfather.

“How uncharastically prescient of you.” He grinned sinisterly, finding enjoyment in how she stopped what he was about to do even before he could. “I thought your greatest virtue was your dogged persistence?” 

“Guess you judged my character too expeditiously.” Nova shot back at him. 

Avellian shrugged. “Perhaps. But I do know you, Nova. And that’s one thing you can’t say about yourself.” 

Ben steps in front of her, igniting his blue blade, now stabilized and remaining true. 

“You dare to fight me?” 

“Yes.” 

“And for what, exactly?” Avellian questioned him. 

“For the Resistance, for Nova, for my family. For myself.” 

“ _Very_ noble,” he mocks. 

Ben shrugged simply then went at him without anger or glee, but with all the focus of one trained as a Jedi. 

Sparks flew as the men crossed blades in combat before Avellian released and went for a hit. Ben angled his blade defensively to block Avellian’s blade, and there was a loud, electric clash between the two lightsabers. Avellian pulled back and swung again; Ben parried and prepared for his next assault. Their weapons again connected with a loud crackle of energy, until Ben broke free, swung hard. Avellian evaded smoothly and rushed Ben, swiping and stabbing with a series of blows. 

Ben blocks and swings his arm to the left side of his body and brings up his lightsaber, striking down in an arch and Avellian blocks it with his. The boy was faster now, the Skywalker lightsaber more like an extension of himself than a separate weapon but Avellian countered easily. Ben swung again and he dodged as his lightsaber. He spun, bringing down his lightsaber over her head and it clashed on Avellian’s, his arm sturdy and straightened out. The man then bent at the elbow, which brought the weapons and Ben’s face closer to his own. He smirks, jerking his blade off to the side and causing the blunt end of the Darksaber to whack Ben in the face and send him tumbling down the throne steps. 

The throng of Sith acolytes in the amphitheater came to life once again, their chant booming which made Nova face all them to see them all rocking back and forth. It was so loud Nova barely heard Ben groan which made her turn back to refocus on him. She watched as he pushed himself to his feet but was suddenly lifted up and into the air by Avellian. 

What the clone of her grandfather spoke only deepened Nova’s despair. “To end you,” Avellian snarled, “is to put an end to the Skywalker legacy.” With the flick of his wrist, the Force slams into Ben, sending back through the cathedral at shuttering speeds. 

Through Nova’s connection to Ben, she felt him smacking directly onto an outcropped rock that bordered the edge of a flashing abyss with a thunderous crack. Down he plummeted into the chasm, and then their connection broke. 

Now it was just Nova, standing before the throne. And if she didn’t find a way to stop Avellian, no one else would. The galaxy would be doomed. 

“You would be wise to run,” Avellian tells her as he steps down from the throne steps. 

“Yeah,” Nova gulped, slowly dropping down into her fighting stance. “Maybe.” 

Leveling out her saber before her, she awaited for his charge as the air buzzed with electricity, unfathomable tension, and suffocating power. 


	32. Duel of the Fates

Once there was a man who wanted more than what he was born with. He came from the genetics of the Emperor himself, Palpatine and was fashioned from Sith alchemy. Born on Exegol and raised in the ways of Sith history, teachings, and skills, the clone named Sheev was groomed to take over the throne as a vessel for the original to live in. After many considerable years however, he was pushed towards the back and the plan went estranged. A son was created, a sort of brother to the clone, and he left the Unknown Regions and met a fair maiden on an old scraper planet called Bracca. Through their union, they birthed a daughter who would become the very bane of the clone’s existence. 

As the man grew older, and snuck out of the Unknown Regions, he plotted his revenge against the Emperor and held a grudge against the granddaughter. He devised his own steps and planted them for them to bloom in true glory as the months carried on. The man even built himself a newer life and created a new name for himself which was Avellian—a play on the word machiavellian which meant cunning, scheming, and unscrupulous. He hid in the shadows, waiting for his time to come and after many, many days, it had happened. 

Avellian stood on Exegol in the cathedral of the man who he had been created after and in front Cassius’s daughter, harnessing the life force of the Jedi Finn and Rey, and all the power of the Sith who had come before. He was electric, alive, and the Force felt twisted throughout the air with crackles of lightning coming up from the fissures. 

“I’ve waited a long time for this moment, little scavenger.” Avellian sneered. He stepped forward and Nova took a step back. “To see you risk everything.” 

“Like you said, I’m persistent.” Nova remarked at him, and lunged forwards. 

Their lightsabers whirled and clashed and whirled again. It should not have been a surprise. With the strength of the Sith growing inside of Avellian and Nova being a purebred Palpatine, they were strong users to be reckoned with. But always before, Nova’s own years of study and practice and her own strength with the Force had been more than enough to prevail. This time, she wasn’t sure. 

But Avellian didn’t seem entirely sure, either. Suddenly, he launched himself into the air, distancing himself from her. Nova flipped after. “Are you trying to run away? I thought you were powerful now.” 

“I _am_ powerful.” Avellian croaked. He began slashing, dicing, weaving. Nova parried and dodged mindlessly, like second nature, no second thoughts being thrown around. The girl then juts out her chin, Avellian being shoved back a few meters but gains ground fast. 

Taking a deep breath, Nova shifted her grip and dove into the battle once more. Avellian quickened his pace and brought his weapon down against Nova’s brillant bar of scarlet. With energy, the girl pressed her attack. She drove Avellian back across the amphitheater, nearby the throne. 

She lunged at Avellian but the man blocked the attack. There was a loud electric crackle as their lightsabers made contact. Nova swung again and again, but each time Avellian parried. Their lightsabers clashed again. And again, and again. Avellian swung hard at Nova, but Nova evaded the black blur of his weapon and jumped backward. The man then tries to slash at her neck but Nova bends back sharply, igniting her second blade with the flick of her wrist and twirls it around to block his movements. She began to overpower him by matching up his fighting sequence and deflected his blade at a vulnerable angle, drawing the older man in close to give him an elbow to the face. 

The fight intensified and sparks flew as they traded blows, Nova redoubling the speed of her blows. Avellian parried one, then another—and then the Darksaber spun out of his hands. Nova raised her weapon for the final blow. 

Force lightning spat from Avellian’s grey fingers, surrounding Nova in a blue nimbus and disarmed her of her lightsaber. It flew out of her grasp, landing far away from her and she shot a look at Avellian. 

“I thought you liked to play fair?” His lips curled in anticipated triumph. 

With fists raised, Nova went and jabs with her left, crossing over with her right and landing a hit in his jaw. He slides himself away with the use of the Force, and extends out his arm, creating four copies of himself against her. Nova prepares herself and kicks the first directly in the gut. When the man hunched over, she threw her left leg around their shoulder before kicking off with her right, spinning the both of them around. Her legs cradle around his neck tight as she arches herself back, hands landing on the ground and bringing her legs down in a forceful swing. He evaporates into the air and she stands to face off the remaining three. 

One tried to get in a punch but Nova was agile, jerking out of the way and grabbed his wrist with both of her hands. With the help of the Force, she flung him over her body and onto the ground in a heap. She forced her boot down onto their stomach and they vanished. Second to the last, they throw a swing but Nova ducked and the other joined in, both ganging up on the girl. She ducked and dipped, and the two both threw punches at the same time but Nova caught their fists with her own. Whipping their arms downwards, Nova jumped with the usefulness of the Force and kicked the one powerfully that their body faded out. Landing back down, Nova sprang up as the last one tried to kick her in the stomach but she grabbed their leg and twisted it, throwing them off to the side and out the disappeared.

The girl huffed and stood, facing Avellian who looked agitated and he charged, throwing kicks at her but she shoved his flying feet away from her face with her hands. She swung and got her own kicks in but he deflected them all, not receiving any of her hits. Nova then swung her body low, bringing up her left leg for an uppercut hit but he blocked, pushing her foot away and threw a fist. She evaded, curving her hand to hook him in the jaw but he caught her hand and she grabbed his wrist that restrained her, prying it off and swooped underneath with it still in her grasp. 

From behind, Nova placed her right hand on his head and flipped over his body. His arm was all bent and tangled as she stuck her landing and brought up her left foot and kneed him as hard as she could manage. Avellian groans and shouts in fury, stumbling back from her unexpected move. Nova then jumps into the air as he recovers, about to perform a spin kick but Avellian calls on the Force and blasts her back. Recovering quickly, Nova contorted her body into a ball to roll backwards and pushed herself up onto her hands into a handstand. She then braced down her legs, standing in a fighting pose as she breathed heavily and flashes of lightning flickered throughout the chamber. 

The girl stalked towards him then they went into a fist fight. Blows were exchanged but not were executed from the two being in sync and able to predict each other’s actions. To make things more interesting, Avellian unsheathed a Kyuzo petar; a double bladed dagger that had a bronzium knuckle-guard, and featured a conductive tempered carbon edge. He sliced and diced, thrashing his melee weapon at Nova but she was elusive. The dagger went in and around her head and Nova dropped down, kicking Avellian in the shin and bunted the weapon out of his hand and sent it flying into the air. She then leaped onto Avellian, using him as a scaling piece as she propelled higher up and used the heel of her boot to direct the knife down at him. It whizzed, cutting straight through his ear and he grew angrier and angrier. The Dark Side pulsed within him and his eyes glowed with an intensity as he drew on even more Force lightning to his oncoming bidding. 

The lightning zagged towards Nova and she raised her hands, reaching out to the living Force to try and hold it off. The lightning began eating away at her gauntlets and the fabric of her sleeves, reducing them to nothing and revealed her scarred forearms. Nova grunted in effort, focusing harder and began to deflect it. Avellian only doubled his attack, hurling Force lightning and backed away from the girl. The sensation was like walking against hurricane winds but still, Nova powered through. 

The blue energy built into a glowing ball in her palms and she readied to throw it back at him the moment his attack stopped. But Avellian didn’t stop; the Force lightning came in a steady crackle, building more and more, until either of them could hold it any longer. The strong blast knocked them both out and away from each other. 

Avellian was larger and heavier, he managed to catch himself in midair. But Nova was small and light, the explosion threw her high into the air. Half stunned, she began the long fall back to the throne room. 

Nova reached out to slow her fall with all the mastery of the Force she had learned. It was enough, barely. She landed hard on her back, but not too hard. Coughing up dust rained down on her, BD-1 came galloping over to her to make sure that she was okay but then quickly screamed out a warning. The girl looked over to see Avellian using the Dark Side to rip chunks of rock out of the throng and crashing them over to where she laid to keep her off balance—off her feet. 

She rolled and covered herself during the assault and huffed. _Two can play at this game._ Nova reached out with the Force and caught one of the hurtling rocks. She threw it back at Avellian who barely dodged in time.

She calls out to her lightsaber and once it finds her hand, Nova stands as Avellian Force dashed to meet her halfway across the room. He had gained the Darksaber and raised it, striking down but Nova activated a single blade at the very last possible moment, blocking his blade and sparks flew as the weapons sizzled against each other for a few seconds. She stumbles over her feet, and Avellian bats from underneath and Nova harrowingly blocked the blow as well which sent her down onto the ground. 

Nova whips her head around, seeing Avellian bringing down his lightsaber once again and she double handed her hilt. Down on one knee with the other propped up, both arms locked and sturdy to their best content, she deflects the edge of the Darksaber. Sparks crackle and Avellian pushed down forcibly, Nova’s elbows starting to bend as her muscles cried out for her to stop. She clenched her jaw, trying to push against him but she was growing weak and he was only getting stronger. But still, he held on for as long as she could, staring into those golden irises that held so much venom and hate. 

A daring droid BD-1 was, he had scaled up Avellian’s leg without him noticing and scrambled to his shoulder. While the new Emperor was enjoying the pain in Nova’s face, BD-1 lifted his one foot then stomped it down, sending an electrifying shock throughout Avellian’s entire body. Avellian broke the lock with their sabers and grabbed the droid by his head, ripping him off with a look of pure disdain. BD-1’s legs kicked all around, the small droid beeped and squirmed as Nova shook feeling back into her arms that screamed out with relief. 

“Why you little insect.” Avellian began clenching the droid’s head tightly, BD-1 trilling for his life. 

“BD!” Nova screamed, fear striking her faster than anything as she properly stood. Double handling her saber again, she stabbed the tip of her blade directly into Avellian’s side with all the power that she could muster. 

The man dropped the droid and placed his left hand on the emitter of Nova’s lightsaber while his other still held onto the Darksaber, trying to keep it in place. But the girl removed her right hand quickly and fluidly, hitting the other end of it, sending it deeper into her nemesis. Rage fumed within Avellian and he released her emitter, throwing his left hand out. Nova and her lightsaber when flying backwards, her body twirling in the air before impact. 

She groans, finally coming to a stop on her side and opening her eyes to see her lightsaber nowhere in sight. Rolling around, she sees it laying between her and Avellian and she reaches for it with the Force. It bullets for her but then halts. She gazes up to see that Avellian had called upon it as well, the girl gritted her teeth and managed to stretch her arm out even more. 

“You’d rather die for them, than your own flesh and blood?” The man scoffs, barely breaking a sweat. 

Nova scowled, her fingers twitching and arm shaking as she still focused on gaining her lightsaber back. She would not give into his mental warfare, she would persist and trust in the Force. 

With no answer leaving her lips, Avellian began tilting her lightsaber hilt upwards and called on the kyber to activate. A red blade sprung to life. “Once a Scrap Rat, always a Scrap Rat.” 

Flexing his wrist sharply, Nova’s lightsaber pointed at her and flung directly into her side just like how she had done with him. Nova grips her hilt, screaming out in agonizing pain as a hole burned through her clothes, armor, and her skin. She deactivated the blade, her arms dropping as if they weighed a ton. Nova pressed on her wound, gasping for breath as BD-1 hovered on over, trilling and boo-beeping to make sure that she was alright. 

The girl tried to stand as Avellian wandered over to the throne but her legs were failing her, pain shooting all over her body and rendering her motionless. She winces, letting out an angry shout that soon vanished into the sea of cries of the Sith Eternal praising Avellian. Nova needed to fight, she _had_ to fight! Placing her left hand on the ground, she pushes herself but it was no use because her arm gave out from being strained. Crashing onto her right bicep, Nova internally cursed and audibly whimpered. 

“Do not fear their feeble attack, my faithful,” Avellian announces loudly to his disciples he sat on the throne, taking in the view of how the throng bowed for him. His eyes then lift to the battle filled sky. “Now you will witness the power of the Dark Side! Nothing will stop the return of the Sith!” 

Nova gathered the strength to prop the top half of her body up once again on her left hand and saw Avellian lift his arms toward the ceiling. She had to squint when blue electricity spewed forth from the crevices in the floor to concentrate around his hands. The energy then shot upward as a beam, through the open ceiling, and spread across the sky like tree branches and began to attack the Resistance fleet. 

Poe’s exhilaration turned to panic as a massive cyclone of energy erupted from the planet’s surface. It engulfed his X-wing in a wave of electricity. Alarms rang out, his cockpit display blinked, and he fought to maintain altitude as his fighter went tumbling. “Artoo, my systems are failing!” 

The astromech squealed in response as he himself was getting attacked by the lightning. 

“Does anyone copy?! Anya?! Anyone?!” Poe shouts into his comlink. 

No one did. All around Resistance aligned ships were in the grip of the electrical storm. Illumination fizzled out across their bows. Engines failed. Many vessels lost power and crashed into each other. The Sith fleet, however, remained untouched. 

Poe managed to right his X-wing, forging his display to rely on his own two eyes. But the larger capital ships required more advanced systems to stay aloft. The Tantive IV began to plummet toward the planet, and then one of its thrusters detonated. Poe was powerless to stop the blockade runner from exploding. 

Bruised and battered, but alive, Nova had reclined and laid on her back in the throne room, staring through the opening of the ceiling, watching the ships of the Resistance crash and burn. She wanted to help them but she didn’t know how. 

“Finn,” she calls out weakly, trying to get a feel for him through the Force, tilting her head up and over to see his weakened body laying still. Her eyes then linger over to her sister’s, “Rey?” 

Nothing. Just silence. Silence that only allowed for her to hear Avellian’s maniacal laughter. 

“Ben?” She tries to reach further, tears falling down the sides of her face. She was desperate, begging to hear him and to feel their connection rekindle. “Ben,” her voice croaked this time as the hopelessness settled in. 

Again, no answer. BD-1 boops her with his head. 

“This is it, BD.” Nova whimpered, her eyes glued on the petaled power of light that rose higher and higher into the night sky. “Cal was wrong to believe in me. They all were. I failed.” 

Her body ached, her wound echoing the pain of getting stabbed all the while her eyes kept locked on the falling ships. Slowly but surely, she felt her eyelids drawing to a close but she forced them to stay open, to try and focus but it didn’t last long. 

The battle vanished into the night. A void of endless black. She stared into the darknessing, searching for a light. She glimpsed one at the edge. Dim, but getting brighter. As was a light at the other edge. And then one in the middle. And then another, and another, until she was witnessing the birth of stars. 

Nova stepped out in the plain black field, the stars coming to life all around her. There was confusion and uncertainty, and the area felt warm yet cold and it enveloped her immediately. She gazed around at her world, an undulation of dark space punctuated by grey beams of light that warped and wrapped around all over. And with each beam, a voice. 

**_The Force is what gives a Jedi his power. It’s an energy field created by all living things. It surrounds us and penetrates us. It binds the galaxy together._ **

She began walking carefully, following paths and passing by circular portals that were playing past events, current events, and even future events from all over the galaxy as if time didn’t exist wherever she was. 

**_I see your eyes. You already know the truth._ **

Another female’s voice erupted from the left side of her, she sounded human, and with a Core accent. ** _The time to fight is now!_**

 ** _Show me, grandfather._** The voice made Nova still. It was Kylo’s voice, one disguised by his old mask. **_And I’ll finish what you’ve started._**

It then switched to Rey’s gentle voice. **_We’ll see each other again. I believe that._**

She began her walk again, trying to find her way through the maze.

 ** _The Resistance will not be intimidated by you:_** Poe Dameron’s words sound.

**_When you think you understand the Force, you realize just how little you know._ **

**_Afraid, are you?_ **

**_That’s how we’re going to win. Not fighting what we hate, saving what we love._ **

Listening in carefully, she allowed the voices to fill her awareness and for them to make themselves known to her. Many were Jedis, but some were just normal human beings. 

**_This is our most desperate hour._** It was Leia, around the age of nineteen and during the days of the Empire. **_Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope._**

Then the mechanical breathing of Darth Vader arose. **_You don’t know the power of the Dark Side._**

 ** _Luminous beings are we, not this crude matter._** It was Master Yoda.

 ** _The lives of every child on that list will be forever changed,_** Cere Junda announced. 

Nova knew very little about Cere but she did know that the former Jedi Knight was a padawan of Eno Cordova before she took on Trilla Suduri as her apprentice. After Order 66, she had cut herself off from the Force and went into hiding like how much of the other Jedi who had survived that fateful day. 

The girl followed the voice of the old Jedi, spotting a circular portal and stared into it. The obsidian glass of it shows the memory of Cere standing next to Cal Kestis, a Nightsister, and a four-armed Latero. Cal had activated the holocron, scanning the names on the chart and his eye caught something. For a moment, it looked as if he was directly staring into Nova’s eyes and he peers closer, examining whatever he had been seeing then his expression softens. 

“Not by us.” Cal told Cere and turned with a hint of a smile on his face. “Their destiny should be trusted to the Force.”

The portal closes, the reflective surface appearing and behind her, Nova sees a man standing. Rotating around, her sight fell upon a man with brown hair, brown eyes, and a smile that mimicked her very own. He wore clothes that looked to be from some backwater world like Jakku, or even Kashyyyk for that matter. She knew this man, had seen him before in a distant memory that seemed so long ago. His face was like her own and his smile was a splitting image that mirrored hers. 

“Dad,” she whispered, her own voice repeating throughout the starry abyss. 

“Hi, Nova.” Cassius nodded with a tender smile.

She allows herself a moment to smile, to be met with her father after all this time. But the smile falls away just like everything else and lets her eyes wander around the place again. “Am I dead?” 

He shook his head. “Not quite.” 

“Are you?” Nova stared at him. 

“I’ve been hiding here for so long, things blurred and time ceased to exist.” His eyes seemed sad, filled with regret as he told her the truth. “I’m alive here.” 

“And where is exactly ‘here’? What is this place?” 

“It’s an ancient Vergence Scatter,” Cassius began to explain. “A collection of doors and pathways existing between time and space, linking all moments in time together.”

“A world between worlds.” Nova commented. 

Cassius nodded. “It was the one place Avellian couldn’t find me; a place that he could never get access too.” 

Silence quietly filled the space until a new portal began shimmering behind her father and Nova inspected it for a moment, stepping up and past her father. Fog fans over the surface, shadowing what was on the other side but the closer she drew, the more it started shaping and framing itself. The gateway showed starbirds flying around it in a loop, as if it were a projection that played faster and faster as one foot moved in front of the other. 

There was a black haired boy with honey brown eyes and he was around the ripe age of fourteen. He was with Luke Skywalker and a man named Lor San Tekka, flying in a spacecraft. Nova knew that the boy was Ben, she felt it and watched intensely as he sat in the back of the cockpit while Lor San Tekka and Luke were conversing about some Jedi relic. Ben traced something with his finger on the floor of the ship and it came to dawn on the girl that it was the Jedi Order symbol. 

Nova leaned in closer towards the portal as young Ben paused, closing his eyes and in his mind he traveled along a mental livewire that led him to a little girl across the galaxy that wore a brown cuff on her left wrist. She was hunched over a piece of debris that had the very same symbol he was outlining. The girl had been doing the same, tracing the shape with her finger and leaving her mark in the mud that was splattered all across the sheet of duraplast. She was ten and her brown hair was knotted, thrown into a messy ponytail. The child felt an awareness and stopped her finger, trying to focus and figure out just exactly what she was feeling. It was the boy, Ben. And the girl, she was Nova. 

A voice then caught the young Nova by shock and she jerked back around, seeing an Umbaran man who forcibly gripped her by the forearm and yanked her up onto her small feet. He had pale, bluish skin and colorless eyes that pierced her soul. He began screaming at her in his native tongue for getting sidetracked and not doing her work, his face twisted and evil. The young girl forced herself to keep quiet, and nodded along and hoped for the best. 

Ben pulled out of his awareness faster than anything, sitting back and allowed the sorrow that he felt for the young girl to settle in. He did not know what she looked like, what her name was, but he did know that she was younger and that they had a connection of sorts. The boy thought that, perhaps, it was just an imaginary friend that he conjured up somehow but what the experience that he sensed felt very real and alive. 

His eyes drifted down to the smudge lines on the floor in front of him, eyeing the Jedi order symbol, he tenderly uttered, “When I’m older and bigger, I’ll find you. Wherever you are.” He thought about his friend that was somewhere out there in the galaxy, and with a heavy heart and pouring feeling into the connection that he tugged on previously, he added, “I’ll come back for you. I promise.” 

A tear escaped Nova’s eye and a sniffle sounded after, her hand slipping away from the surface as she stared down at her boots. That voice that made her fall asleep on her lonesome nights, that provided her comfort and gave her a sense of what love was had always and forever been Ben Solo. 

“Nova,” Cassius’s voice is sincere and loving as he steps towards her. “You can still do this.” 

She weakly shakes her head. “I . . . can’t.” 

“Yes, you can.” 

Nova turned, her bottom lip quivering as she stared her father in the eyes. “I can’t. Avellian is now stronger; he stole the power of the Sith from Palpatine and Rey and Finn’s life essence, and he threw Ben into a chasm and I couldn’t feel him.” She sobbed softly. “That power that is now inside of him, I felt it and I was a prisoner in my own body but Avellian, he’s accepting the boundaries that he’s able to push. I can’t beat him, I can’t win this! He’s too strong.” Tears kept on falling and she shivered, her nose felt cold and her cheeks warm. 

Cassius takes a step then another, his hand tucking a piece of hair behind her ear and he envelopes her into a fatherly hug. Nova instantly clung to the man, breathing in his scent as he stroked her hair to calm her down. He smelled of apples, firewood, and oil. 

“But you’re stronger,” he says into her head as he held her tight and snug. 

“Dad . . .” 

He pulled away from her, but only enough for her to see his face. “You were born with many gifts, and you are so brave and persistent just like your mother.”

 ** _You saw something, when you opened the holocron,_** Cere Junda’s voice echoed out the black, starry plane. 

“I know it wasn’t easy on you to know you’re a Palpatine but you’re not just me and my family, you’re your mother’s too.” 

**_My granddaughter,_** Cal spoke loudly and humbly. **_Her name was Nova Palpatine._**

A small gasp escaped Nova’s lips as she heard Cal speak in the background of her father’s words.

Cassius smiles at her, feeling sentimental over her hearing the long awaited answer she’s been looking for. She was now ready. 

“Nova, you have everything you need and more.” A small pause. “The evil in Exegol weakens you. It deceives you, uses your pain against you and that’s all that Avellian had ever known in his life. But you, you know the truth.” 

He takes a step back and away from his daughter, holding onto her hand for a brief moment. Nova still clings to him, not wanting him to go and as much as he felt misery and distress, he was grateful for the little infinity of them. 

“You have to wake up, Nova.” He nods to her, giving her one last look that only a father could manage to give to his only child. “Rise in the Force. _Now_.”

Nova’s eyes flicker open to see the avalanche of Avellian’s attack on the Resistance ships. BD-1 trills from seeing her alive once again and the girl rolled onto her good side, smacking her hand onto the ground and she pushed herself up to get her knee under her. Leveraging herself up and onto her toes, her wound cried out in pain which made her bones feel like glass but she remembered what her father had said in the World Between Worlds. 

Avellian felt the Force stirring and his head tilted downwards at Nova to see her gathering up strength to stand on her feet. He regarded her with irritation and ceased his power. 

Poe breathed a sigh of relief. As suddenly as the electrical storm had struck, it had ended. It had taken a fair number of Resistance ships and pilots, but the majority of the fleet had made it through intact. And as long as they were alive, they could fight the First Order. 

“This is our last chance! We gotta hit those cannons now!” He radioed out into his comlink, flying directly for another Star Destroyer and began blasting away with Anya’s X-wing joining him.

Down in the fissure, Ben Solo had survived his fall. His ankle was twisted, and was pretty positive that he’d broken at least two ribs from hitting the outcropping. He pushed all pain from his mind and though he couldn’t feel Nova anymore, he had desperately called out to the Jedi that came before as he weakly leaned up against the wall. 

“Be with her.” He pleaded to whoever would hear his message. “Be with her, please.” 

Ben knew that he couldn’t scale his way back up to the throne room in time; he couldn’t be there to help her so he did the only thing he could to ensure her safety, and her own survival. 

“Be with Nova.”

On her knees, Nova watched as Avellian stood from the throne and strutted to the edge of the steps. She noticed how his eyes flickered from gold to a vivid yellow-orange, which told her that him trying to hold all that power within him was slowly but surely becoming his own weakness. He was struggling to gain control over the stolen power that was not made for him to handle in the first place. Avellian had believed that Rey and Finn’s Tandem Force bond would make him more suitable for it but in fact, just only made him able to withstand it for a little while. 

Avellian put his faith into the Dark Side of the Force and even if he did manage to kill Nova here, today, the Dark Side would not truly win. The Dark Side was anger, hatred, despair—all the forces of ruin and decay. Powerful they were to tear down and destroy, but they also helped create and replenish new life. 

Nova summoned her lightsaber into her hand and flicked it out from behind her, two red blades deploying to cast its scarlet glow in the blue-grey hues of the amphitheater. 

Avellian couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight sinisterly. “Not much of a threat when you’re all alone, Ms. Nova.” 

“But I’m not alone.” 

Behind her, as flashes of light strobed, Avellian caught sight of a ghostly blue figure stepping up to stand near her. It was the young man of Cal Kestis, standing and staring directly at the new Emperor on the left hand side. Then besides him came Cere Junda in her old Jedi attire, and before Avellian knew it, more and more Force ghosts had flanked out behind the young girl: Ahsoka Tano, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda, Mace Windu, Kanan Jarrus, Qui-Gon Jinn, and lastly, Luke Skywalker who stood on the right next to Nova. 

“No, no,” Avellian seethed, staring at all the fallen Jedi. His rage began to consume him and he lashed out, blasting her with everything he had within the Dark Side. “ _No_!” 

She whipped up her lightsaber and blocked the Force lightning, reaching for the Force to help her stand ground. Her knuckles turned white as she stared him down and clutched the hilt of her saber, grin and bearing the powerful impact. 

“You’re just a useless Scrap Rat!” Avellian yells to her, his voice booming and traveling right into her ears and looping themselves around her brain. “A pathetic little girl who is still being weighed down!” 

Avellian goes to add in his other hand to project more electrifying lightning onto her but in a pure moment of genius building and overcoming obstacles, Nova grabbed the other end of her dual lightsaber. She twisted the hilt at its base and the dual lightsaber split into two separate lightsabers. Nova crossed the red blades and held firm as Avellian produced more Force lightning. 

“You’re no match for the Dark Side!” Avellian screams at her, his blood bubbling. “You are broken!” 

_Everything broken can be rebuilt,_ Nova reminded herself. It won’t be the same as it was but she knew that she wouldn’t be alone, that there will always be someone with her. She took in a moment for herself, closing her eyes and focused on her breathing. She remembered her training, and for the first time in a long time, she broke down her mental barrier. 

“What parent gave their life so that you might live?” Second Sister once asked her.

The memory of her mother clinging to her on Jakku, telling her to be brave and her stepfather Erik smiling at her erupts before her eyes. Then it quickly shifted them blasting off in the freighter as young Rey screamed for them to come back, then to when they were killed by Ochi of Bestoon. 

“You are a failure.” The fake, dark vision words of her stepfather Erik ring out like sirens in her head along with the vivid imagery of the Starkiller weapon blasting that fiery red glow out into space and it exploding the Hosnian system as Nova stood and watched it happen. 

Snoke’s voice then took over. “You’re too soft.” 

“A weakling.” Erik adds in as flashes of her youth played out where she found wounded creatures and helped them, or her many nights of crying her weary body to sleep. 

“You’re emotional.” Snoke finishes. 

The vision warped to Bylsma’s planet being destroyed by the First Order, to Elsie getting her arms cut off from the Ninth Sister’s spinning saber, to Ben getting stabbed by Rey, and being told the truth of being a Palpatine. “A traitor.” 

Rapid flashes flew past her eyes like a slideshow of her life; betrayals, deaths, truths, lies, destruction, hurt, tears, sadness, anger, regret, anxiety, and despair. It all played out and she let it in. 

All then seemed to fade out to a pure glow of white. Everything fell away, and there was a moment of clarity. 

Gradually, within that white space of pure nothing, she heard Luke Skywalker’s whispering to her. **_Reach out with your feelings._**

Nova was fifteen and after she ran away from the Trandoshan, she bumped into Bylsma and he helped her up and gave her a tenderhearted smile. 

**_Find the light_** , Cere requested. 

Nova remembers her laughing with Freya that one morning in Canto Bight, hugging Hux before she left for Kef Bir, handing over her one brown cuff to Rey which symbolized their promise to one another. There was meeting BD-1 for the first time, bonding with and bathing the norwoods, and there was the memory of when Rey was born and how Nova got to hold her baby sister. 

The two red blades within Nova’s hands began dimming and Avellian examined them closely, seeing how the vivid scarlet faded out to a pink. It then slowly transformed into a lighter shade and Avellian scowled at what was happening. She was healing her damaged kyber crystals of all the pain that was stored within them. 

**_Alone, never have you been._** Yoda informed Nova.

Behind her eyelids, she began to witness how Cal was always watching over her during their training sessions. Seen how Ben and her were connected and everything that had happened to him or to her, the other felt it all. 

Mace Windu then speaks: **_Feel the Force flowing through you, Nova._**

 ** _We stand behind you, Nova._** Qui-Gon announced. 

**_Persistence reveals the path,_** Kanan states. 

**_Trust,_** Cal’s voice speaks louder than the rest, **_only in the Force._**

Nova peeled back her eyelids, her gaze dead set on Avellian and her blades were no longer red but white! And with her insolence, she channeled the Force and all the love that she had for her sister, for Elsie, for BD-1, for her family, and for Ben. The white blades began to shift color again and Avellian’s eyes bulged out of their sockets, seeing the hue modifying to a golden yellow. 

Finn had woken up, wincing and crawled towards Rey, picking her head up and into his lap. He cradled her cheeks like how he had back on Starkiller and looked across the room to see Nova making her final stand against Avellian. She took a step forwards and the man cowarded back but held his ground, refusing to show any sign of retreat and weakness. Avellian wouldn’t give her the satisfaction; he pressed on, conjuring all the power of the Sith at his aid. He drew on the throng’s energy to further the intensity of his surging energies.

The Force ghosts, like Finn, watched as Nova’s impenetrable shield absorbed and gathered up a pulse of the Force lightning. Simultaneously, they all raised their hands out to her, lending her their essence for her to use at her disposal. With their help, she sent the pulse back on Avellian, against his onslaught. Taking another step closer, she sent a second pulse his way as her knees buckled and her arms felt as if they were going to fall off. What mattered was not giving up, and Nova was persisting. 

The lightning began to feed back on Avellian and it ravaged his face, peeling away at his flesh. He threw back his head in torment, and in denial of what was happening to him. Nova did not quit, she held her arms out, placing one foot in front of the other, closing the space in between the two. 

**_Let go, Nova_ **

**_The Force demands a sacrifice._ **

**_It’s time to let go._ **

The voices chorused to her. 

**_The Force will be with you. Always._** Luke told Nova as she raised her sabers higher in front of her face as her nose began to bleed, bending her elbows to bring them closer. Violently, she thrust out her arms, keeping them straight and delivered the final blow to Avellian. 

Struck by his own dark power, Avellian shrieked as his flesh, muscle, and bone melted away, until nothing was left. Not even ash. Cracks opened in the walls, the amphitheater began to collapse, the Sith acolytes scurried down tunnels, and the spiked throne was caught in a stream of energy and a powerful explosion that resembled a star going supernova. 

The massive shockwave threw Nova to the ground as rubble rained down around her. 


	33. Balance

Red armored Jet Troopers rocketed toward Freya and Rose, obscuring their view of the ships. While Rose kept the Troopers at bay with her blaster shots, Freya got back to work on the cannon, opening an access panel. She wasn’t an engineer like Rose: didn’t know much about starship technology, but when it came to blasters and cannons, those had been in the First Order’s curriculum. 

Freya yanked a thick clutch of wires from the cannon. They sparked and the cannon rotated when she touched the wire ends together. “Okay, we’re hot!” She said. 

Holding the wires, she jumped back down to Rose. The wires pulled further out of the cannon but were long enough to reach the hull. She handed a bunch of them to Rose and then touched two of her wires together. There were more sparks, but the cannon’s turret swiveled down, its double barrels pointed at where the primary generator was housed on the Steadfast’s navigation deck. 

“Never another kid to be taken from their family,” Freya stated. 

“Not anymore.” Rose smiled and tapped the ends of her wires against each other, causing a much bigger spark than Freya’s. 

In one booming blast, the cannon unloaded all its firepower into the Steadfast. 

A crater opened in the Destroyer’s hull, belching thick black smoke. But that was the only initial damage. If Freya’s aim had been accurate, there should be more to come. And there was. 

The Steadfast shook. Destruction of the power generator sent electrical surges throughout the ship. Fires erupted across the decks, followed by small explosions, then larger ones. 

The miserable experience of being a Stormtrooper proved useful. It showed Freya all the weak spots, especially the arrogance of its leaders. She could picture Captain Phasma on the bridge, yelling at her officers, wondering what could have possibly gone wrong. Who could have this? 

_FY-4201, that’s who,_ Freya wanted to tell her. 

The Steadfast began to fall from the sky. Freya took Rose’s hand. If there was a cause worthy of dying for, it was this—for her friends in the Resistance. For her father and Leia, for Chewbacca and BB-8, for C-3PO and R2-D2, and of course for Finn, for Poe, and for Rey. 

“Poe,” Anya dispatched to the pilot. “The command ship is down!” 

“Their fleet is stuck here! They’re toast! Come on!” He cheered, rallying up the Resistance pilots and threw on a few switches as R2-D2 brought the X-wing’s primary systems back online. 

“Poe,” Connix radioed in. “Freya and Rose didn’t board the lander.” 

“They’re still on that command ship?” He pondered but that didn’t last long. 

Poe banked away from the TIEs and accelerated toward the Steadfast, which had started to tumblr toward the surface. On its navigation deck, he spotted two figures amidst the flames—Freya and Rose. 

He gunned the engines toward them. But then the Steadfast went into a free fall and Freya and Rose slid across the deck. Poe soared overhead, unable to reach them. 

“Alpha Leader, what are you doing?” Lieutenant Tyce barked over the emergency comm. 

“I see them,” Poe said. “I’m going to get them.” 

“Poe, you won’t make it.” Anya commented. 

“Trust me,” he said, looping his X-wing around for another pass. “I’m fast!” 

Lando intruded on the comm once again. “Not as fast as this ship.” 

Poe gandered up above him to see the Millennium Falcon soaring down over his X-wing and tearing through the flaming wreckage of the Star Destroyer. Beams screeched as they broke around it, but the Falcon stayed far enough ahead to avoid being struck. Poe, however, a few seconds behind, had to bank his X-wing to port or be crushed. 

When he turned his X-wing around, the deck on which Freya and Rose stood had split apart and was tumbling away with other pieces of the Steadfast. The deck must have also pulverized the Falcon, because there were only chunks of hot metal where Poe expected to see it. 

Poe hadn’t made it in time to save Freya and Rose, and now they lost Chewie, Lando, and the Millennium Falcon. Why couldn’t he have been the one instead?

“Chewie, you got the kids?” Lando’s voice came over the comm. 

One chunk of metal didn’t drop like the rest. It rose. It was the Millennium Falcon. On top a Wookie emerged from a hatch and two humans scrambled across the hull to him. 

Poe exhaled. Freya, Rose, Chewie, and Lando had survived. He soared high into the atmosphere to escape the world shaking explosions. 

Freya dropped through the Falcon’s hatch. An old rebel pilot named Wedge Antilles, who had joined Lando and Chewie, helped her and Rose down. Instead of rushing to the turrets as Wedge and Rose did, Freya went to the first console she could find and initiated a sensor sweep for Finn and Rey’s Cloud Car. 

While the scan progressed, Freya noticed a flurry of activity on Resistance channels. Reports were being received from all over the galaxy of star systems now in open rebellion against the First Order. Bespin, Jakku, Naboo, Corellia, Lothal, Bracca, Thyferra, Coruscant. 

The Resistance had done it. The spark that General organa had lit had become an inferno. The First Order would fall and a new age in the galaxy would begin. 

Finn peeled his eyes open, looking out from under his Force shield to see all the dust and particles clearing the air of the throne room. He slowly placed down his arm, the shield disabling as his right arm was protectively wrapped around an awaking Rey. He focused down on her, cupping her cheeks. 

Once her eyes met his, she tenderly smiled. “Did we win?” 

Finn nodded. “Yeah,” he whispered and leaned down, giving her forehead a kiss. “We did.” 

He helped the girl sit up and she peered around at the tumbled wreckage of the cathedral: the throng had been broken by massive chunks of rock, the statues of the Sith were broken and shattered, the throne was gone. Splintered cracks in the walls billows out heaps of mist and the floor appeared it had been torn up by a thunderous quake. 

A presence filled her and Finn’s awareness, the two of them turning over to where the pit was and saw a hand reach up and clasp the surface. 

Ben had made his climb, to say the least it was excruciating. Each time he had reached for a handhold, it felt like he was being stabbed by a lightsaber. And his body threatened to pummel directly back down into the abyss but he pressed on, determination coursing through his veins. His sweaty face popped up from the ledge, his bangs dampened and frightened eyes scanning all over, seeing the devastation and cataclysm that took place. He spotted Finn and Rey, perfectly in shape and untouched by harm. He was thankful for that at the very most. 

His eyes then trailed over and he felt a newfound pain, one that was greater than a few broken ribs and a raging headache. In a heap near where the throne used to be laid Nova, motionless while BD-1 beeped sadly and began nudging her with his head to try and wake her but there was nothing. Rey and Finn followed his line of sight, and it struck Rey hard. Her nightmare had come true. 

“No, Nova,” She whimpered and turned herself into Finn’s arms, crying into his shoulder as he just held her tight.

Ben hoisted himself over the side, grunting in his efforts as he placed his feet under him. He made a few steps but not before stumbling and falling into his stomach. The boy forced himself back up and limped forward, his right leg being the only thing that stopped him from running full force towards her body. 

He pressed onto his side as he drew closer and upon seeing her eyes closed and seeing how her nose bled into her pink lips and it seeped out and down her chin, Ben collapsed onto his knees. He proceeded to crawl over, his arms carefully snaking under her lifeless form and grunted as he rotated and lifted her up with his remaining energy. Nova rested into his lap, his one arm under her torso and waist as the other cradled the back of her neck. 

Sitting back, Ben was able to focus on her. She was cold, she did not move, her eyes were shut close as if she were just sleeping but that was not the case. He felt nothing from her. Avellian had taken her life and she willingly gave it to save everyone, even him. 

Ben allowed himself to feel vulnerable, breath trembling and body unknowingly rocking itself back and forth as he peered over to Finn, hoping the young Jedi had an answer to fix this. Finn sadly averted his gaze and Ben glanced back down at Nova’s face, removing his arm from under her waist. He used the hem of his sleeve to wipe off the dried blood from her ever growing pale face, tears slipping from his eyes. She seemed so tiny in his colossal hands, and it really put into perspective just how breakable the young girl was. 

**_Ben,_** Anakin’s voice called to him, **_I understand._** And he did. Palpatine had taken Padme away from Anakin, and now, the same happened to Nova. 

The boy sniffled and pulled Nova’s limp body up and into his chest, giving her one last hug though she had not returned it back. All those times that he mistakenly took her small and fragile arms wrapped around him for granted played in his mind, on a never ending loop. Ben also remembered how he used to believe that she was a figment of his youthful imagination until he had woken on Bylsma’s planet and seen her face for the first time. He was never able to explain how it felt, how he knew that it had been her but now he could. There was a sense of purpose, a sense of home, and she was unlike anyone else. Been hurt, broken but maintained this light about her and it hadn’t been smothered. That very own light of hers had led him home, to himself, to the Resistance, to her. 

Nova was his everything, and now it had been reduced to nothing. She was simply gone. Forever. 

**_Ben,_** his uncle Luke’s voice came to him and he softly gasped at the sound of the soothing tone. **_Balance._** He reminded him.

Ben still clung to Nova, shaking his head. “It’s too late,” he mumbled to the voices, “she’s gone.”

**_No, it’s not._ **

**_No,_ **

Ahsoka Tano’s voice then spoke: **_There’s still a way . . ._**

**_Look deeper,_** Qui-Gon Jinn told him. 

Ben listened, he looked deeper inside of himself. Nova and him were a part of a Force Dyad, they were two separate individuals but in the Force, they were one. A fragment of her lived within him and a segment of his being still resided in her, subdued and muted, but still there nonetheless. Then he finally came to the realization that that was the reason why the Force hadn’t taken her yet.

He knew what he had to do, and he had the strength for it. 

Ben slowly lowered Nova back down into his lap, cradling her with all the tenderness he could manage and placed his hand on her waist. 

**_Close your eyes,_** Ahsoka says.

Luke then added, **_Breathe._**

The boy did as he was told. He breathed deeply, sinking himself into the Force. This was something that Ben had never done before, but he had heard of the Sith legend of the tragedy of Darth Plagueis like how his grandfather, Anakin, had. The Sith master learned how to keep the ones he cared about from dying and how to create life. Perhaps it had been a lie told to Anakin by the Emperor, and maybe doing this would prove to be fruitless.

That was until he heard a new voice through the Force. One that belonged to Nova’s grandfather, Cal Kestis. **_Trust me._**

Ben searched and found his spirit within Nova. He focused on it, giving her and transferring his essence straight into her. He imagined giving her his own warmth and began committing more of himself to the girl, giving her cells energy to stitch up her lightsaber wound and took the pain from it, exhaling it through his nose. He wiggled his fingers and winced, his whole hand beginning to ache from the healing. It was taking all he had and he was running empty. 

The slight touch of a hand resting on Ben’s shoulder signified and suddenly, the air filled with a resonant hum. Behind him stood Anakin’s Force ghost and he was giving his grandson all of his Force energy. **_It’s love that brings you home,_** he tells him. 

Finn was watching intensely at the two and witnessed a yellow glowing light that emitted out from under the crevices of Ben’s fingers. It was something that he hadn’t learned about in Luke’s old Jedi texts and the Force felt thicker, not in a bad way but a rather good one. Felt like a balance. 

“Rey,” Finn taps her back and she shifts around, seeing what he was. The golden glow had grown with an intensity as Ben kept his eyes closed and Anakin stood with him.

It began filling up the cathedral, becoming bright to their very eyes. Rey and Finn squint, wondering what was going on and couldn’t avert their gaze. Whatever was happening, it was mesmerizing and remarkable to behold. 

Above Exegol, Poe flew by the planet and blasted a TIE down. Three more came for him and as he readied to shoot, his attention was grabbed by an ever blooming light that was in stark contrast against the dull blue hues of the atmosphere. “The _hell_ is that?” 

The glow suddenly sprang to life, transforming into a beacon that shined straight out and high into the sky like how the electrical storm had. Poe shut his eyes close, looking away from the magnitude of it, the powerful light sending out a calamitous shockwave that lanced straight for the First Order TIEs and the Final Order fleet. 

All the Star Destroyers and TIEs were quickly devoured, erupting into debris and falling out of orbit. Every single one was crashing down on the planet and the Resistance was untouched, perfectly stable and out of harm’s way. 

Ben was still channeling everything he had, letting his memories guide him to know what to do. He poured everything into her, even found reservoirs that he had forgotten about: the moments with Chewbacca, with his father in the Millennium Falcon, his mother reading him bedtime stories. Nova and her numerous smiles she gave him, how she understood him and never once made him feel like he needed to be something other than himself—whether that meant being Kylo Ren or Ben Solo, or even both simultaneously. She loved him for who he was, imperfections and all. 

Anakin used the last of his soul and will in the Force to provide his grandson with what he needed, then he smiled with such affirmation in Ben. He would finish what Anakin had started, and with the pieces falling into place, Anakin’s Force ghost faded away. 

The immensely mammoth beam of light had returned back down from the sky, collapsing in on itself and was absorbed into the bodies Ben and Nova. After all, it had been their bond—their own special light—that it was produced from. 

The air grew still and Ben kept quiet, nonmoving because he believed that if he moved a mere centimeter that all he had done would be gone in a moment. 

Softly, a warm hand rested on top of his and his eyes flew open to see Nova awaking slowly, stirring. Her eyes opened to look up at him and at first, she seemed startled, forcing herself to sit up in his lap. Ben held his breath and Nova noticed it. His eyes were soft, puffy and red, and glassy from his tears. His scar was now gone and he looked exactly how she first met him all those years ago on the jungle planet of Bylsma’s. 

“ _Ben_ ,” she softly said and smiled, staring into his eyes. 

He searched her eyes, his left hand still placed at the back of her neck gently and his lips somberly thin out into a grin as he tried to hold back more tears that threatened to escape. Ben tried his hardest not to cry, staring at the girl with so much love and conviction that he couldn’t believe just how much she meant to him. _No_ —he could. He could believe it. Nova made him feel alive, made him feel happy that he _was_ alive. It was the greatest gift that anyone could ever receive in a lifetime. 

Nova placed her left hand on his cheek, fingers delicately touching where his scar used to be and glanced down at his lips before looking back into his eyes. The girl who had felt alone for all those years had been part of a Dyad the whole time, and that precious connection had saved her life. With her hand on his cheek, anchoring her to him, Nova leaned in. She kissed him and he adjusted his hold on her waist, keeping her close and smashing his face fondly against hers as if he couldn’t get enough of her. He would never have enough of her. 

The kiss was very long overdue and it was one that was of acknowledgement of their connection, a celebration that they had finally found each other. It was a kiss that said “I love you more than anything” and they held it for the longest time, until their lungs craved air. And until BD-1 trilled for them to break it up. 

Ben was the first to pull away but just enough to see her face. He chuckled, revealing his teeth and dimples happily as he stared at her with reverence and adoration. Nova Palpatine, a scavenger girl who had salvaged his life. The other half of him in Dyad, who had mended his heart. How did he ever get this lucky? 

Movement snagged Nova’s gaze, and she turned her head to see Rey and Finn. Her baby sister and her very own home with a heart and two arms. 

Ben helped Nova up, his body energized but very much wounded. He watched as the two sisters had finally embraced one another and exchanged their proper apologies which ended in complete and utter trust. Two different sides, finally etching together. 

Debris was falling everywhere. Exegol already began turning into a wasteland with all the Star Destroyers crashing down and smoldering for years to come. Freya kept her eyes out of the viewport, standing next to her father and the both of them held their breaths. 

“Dad, there!” Freya jabbed her finger out, seeing the Cloud Car and dispatched into her wristlink. “Rey and Finn are in the air. They’re alive!” 

Trailing behind the Cloud Car was Ben Solo’s Special Forces TIE which held Nova as a passenger. It flew in formation with the other Resistance vessels and a standard issued Steadfast escape pod that housed an anxious Armitage Hux and a very thrilled Elsie who was piloting it. 

“All flyers,” Poe spoke through the channel, “let’s go home.” 

And one by one, the ships jumped to lightspeed and left the world of Exegol. 

“Thank the Maker! Thank the Maker!” 

C-3PO pushed his brass colored legs faster than their designer recommended limit. Preservation routines informed him that the legs could break. His joint bolts were old and the servomotors had rusted in the humidity, and there were no replacement parts on Ajan Kloss for a Cybot Galactica unit of his vintage. But there was another set of routines that held greater priority in his programming than preservation. And that was protocol. Protocol demanded he get out of the Resistance base as quickly as he could to welcome those volunteers coming home. Protocol also demanded he check on his counterpart. 

Outside the base, the few Resistance ships that had survived the Battle of Exegol landed in the jungle clearing. C-3PO’s photoreceptors identified BB-8 rolling out of a transport lander with Kaydel Co Connix. The ball droid whistled merrily when he was joined by a smaller tread-wheeled droid whose designation C-3PO had learned was D-O. 

C-3PO saw Rose and Freya run out of the Falcon to Anya while Chewbacca was stopped by General Leia Organa who handed him Captain Solo’s medal. Nearby, Professor Beaumont Kin embraced Klaud, who blushed green with embarrassment, while Commander D’Acy did the same to Lieutenant Tyce, who did not blush. 

Next to the transport, Rey and Finn got out of their Cloud Car and walked over to Leia who greeted them happily. 

C-3PO caught Poe, his left arms in a sling, exchanging a meaningful look across the clearing to Anya as she was being hugged by Zorii. He flicked his eyebrows to her and the Resistance pilot nods with a smirk, Poe approving the notion and winked. Lieutenant Connix was laughing at some joke. Chewbacca wrapped Rey in his shaggy arms. Freya sat on some crates, chatting with her father, General Calrissian. 

C-3PO’s leg joints ground to a halt when he got to Poe’s X-wing. The fighter had dents from boe to stern. Paint peeled off the hull where fire hadn’t blackened it. The laser cannon tips were bent, and the nose cone looked like a lite had been taken out of it. But his counterpart, standing near the X-wing’s landing gear, seemed in very good condition for a droid who had come out of a war zone. 

R2-D2 wobbled from side to side on his two legs and let out the happiest beeps C-3PO had ever heard. “Yes, Artoo, I’m fine, except for a stiff servo joint. And I’m glad to see you, too. We’ve won, you know.” 

The intensity of seeing R2-D2, when C-3PO had determined there was zero possibility of ever seeing him again, flipped some bits in his neutral network. This caused a memory file the R2-D2 had restored to be accessed and read. It was a record of the moment when C-3PO’s maker had fitted a photoreceptor into his eye socket and he had experienced the visual spectrum for the first time. The initial image his photoreceptors had captured was of a blue and white astromech. 

The circuits that modulated his mood buzzed in jubilation. No wonder he and R2-D2 were strong counterparts—the two had been together since C-3PO’s original poweron. 

The sound of an engine caught his mood circuits in state. “Did you hear that?” He asked R2-D2. His torso servomotors tilted so he could look up into the sky. 

A Special Forces TIE touched down. The cockpit canopy opened, and Ben climbed out. He lent out a hand and Nova took it, stepping out with a BD unit scurrying after. 

“Oh my! Ben Solo!” C-3PO cheered. “Look, Artoo! It’s Master Ben. Been quite a long time since we have seen him, I wonder where he’s been! I wonder if he knew of the First Order and of the dreadful Kylo Ren.” 

As C-3PO processed the command to move his legs, his counterpart did something that he could have never predicted. R2-D2 swiveled his dome and beeped a sentiment only organic beings expressed with each other. 

C-3PO did not move toward Ben. Instead, he laid his metal hand on R2-D2’s dome and kept it there. Protocol demanded it. 

Though healed, Nova was adamant on keeping Ben stable and had him place his arm around her shoulder. She wrapped her arm around his waist to try and keep him off his damaged ankled, making way through the jungle which had reminded the girl of Bylsma’s planet. People stared at her and she felt nervous, averting their gaze and just focused on getting Ben to wherever the nearest medbay was. The unexpected then happened, the Resistance began cheering and clapping for her. They knew that Palpatine—Avellian Palpatine—was dead, and that it had been her who vanquished him from Finn. Nova wondered if they’d be so quick to congratulate her if they knew she was his granddaughter. 

Or maybe they would. After all, Leia Organa was the daughter of Darth Vader and her son was Kylo Ren. Maybe the good people of the Resistance knew that it wasn’t bloodlines or family history that makes the person who they were, but their choices. 

Ahead Nova spotted Leia Organa standing by Rey, Finn, and Poe who had then turned, eyes finding her through the celebrating crowd of people. The old woman made her way for him and Ben removed his arm from Nova, taking limping steps forwards and the two embraced in a loving hug. 

“Welcome home,” Leia told her son. 

Ben softly exhales. “It’s good to be home.”

BD-1 suddenly scaled Ben’s leg and back, resting on his shoulder and scanned the surrounding area, logging all the information into his drive. Leia pulled away, seeing the droid and he scanned her with his sensor, blue lightning displaying on the General’s face and she double blinked from the sudden exposure. 

“That’s BD-1.” Ben comments wholeheartedly and in an apologetic tone, shooshing the droid and he hovers over to Nova’s shoulder. “And this,” he moves for his mother to see her in her bloody, tattered, and ruined garbs.

“Rey’s sister.” Leia says kindly and steps forwards to Nova, staring up at the girl who was a few centimeters taller than her but a few shorter than Rey. “Nova Palpatine.” Nova holds her breath, body stiffening from hearing Leia announcing her last name out loud. “You saved my son, and the galaxy, you should be proud.” 

Nova frowns, hearing the woman’s words. She _should_ be proud of herself; she had shown Ben that he still had a home to return to and he did, and she proved to Avellian that even when things—especially people—are broken, that they can be restored. Yet, something was blocking her from feeling accomplished. 

Leia reaches for Nova’s exposed hand tenderly, placing it into hers. The girl inspected her eyes, staring into them and she saw a twinkle there. Suddenly, images flashed before Nova’s very own eyes: a young Leia being rescued by Luke, Han, and Chewbacca from the first Death Star. Her on Endor and kissing Han. Her holding baby Ben and whispering sweet incoherent sentences into his rather big ears that she had loved so much. She had even seen Leia training as a Jedi with Luke once upon a time, until she went back to focusing on being a General. 

Leia had seen the girl’s echoed past as well: being on Hoth and taking shelter in an old AT-AT, trying to stay warm. Nova displaying her touch with the Force as a toddler, using it to gain her baby bottle to drink from and her father Cassuis being flabbergasted. Her being seven and climbing old wrecks, finding supplies which resulted in deep cuts on her arms. Nova sensing the very moment when Ben had turned to the Dark Side and to Snoke, a cold shiver traveled up her spine and made her uncomfortable. And lastly, Nova listening to the Alderaan man Bylsma’s stories of Leia Organa and Han Solo, and the Rebels. 

“Psychometry,” the woman stated. “A rare talent that only certain Force users have, just like your grandfather, Cal.” Leia lets her hand go and Nova gives her a shocked expression. “I met him, a wonderful and brave young man. You remind me a lot of him.”

Nova felt tears coming to her eyes but she bit the inside of her cheek to keep the tears from falling.

“You, like Cal, have given the future generation of Jedi a chance at survival. Your children, and your children’s children, and so on. You saved their lives, you gave them hope and hope will—”

“—will always survive in those who continue to fight.” Nova finished. 

Leia smiled. “And you’ve fought very well, Nova.” 

The woman then held out her hand again and the girl stared at it for a moment, wondering what it was for until she saw Leia’s gaze lingering upon her dual lightsaber that hung at her side. She unhooked it, and handed it over. 

Leia deployed the one end, revealing a single white golden beam and stepped back, telling the girl to kneel before her. The crowd watched as Nova did as told and Leia raised the lightsaber from her one shoulder to the other then above her head. “By the right of the Resistance, by the will of the Force. Nova Palpatine. Rise, Jedi Knight.” 

Nova rose slowly and everyone began their cheering again, a few whistles were granted by Poe Dameron, and hoots and hollers accompanied by Finn and Rey. BD-1 trilled, doing a jump and spin, and Ben clapped happily. The girl was now proud, filled with joy and a sense of relief. Leia gives her her own lightsaber back, she deactivates it and hooks it back to her belt. 

“General, we got a few stragglers!” 

Aftab Ackbar and Anya Khan headed over with Elsie and Armitage in their grasps, the cyborg just smiling at the surrounding area in pure awe at the color of green. Hux was still in his First Order military uniform, his red hair tousled and his cheeks flushed with pink from the humidity. 

“Oh, please, unhand me. I quite believe I won’t be doing anything disastrous in the eyesight of the Resistance.” The ex-general of the now fallen First Order mused. 

Nova was completely taken back at the sight of him. Avellian told her that he was dead, that he was killed by Phasma but she should’ve known that was another lie by him in order for her to pursue what he wanted from her. 

“Armitage!” Nova piped out, sneaking through the crowd to get to him. Once she reached the skinny man, she threw her arms out and around him. “Armitage,” she breathlessly whispered into his shoulder. 

The man enclosed his arms around her, this time not hesitating but rather embracing her quickly. “I-I’m,” his words came a bit choked out, he clears his throat to sound more authoritative, “I’m quite glad that you’re alright.” 

“Me too.” She sniffled, holding him tighter and drew in a deep breath to calm herself down. 

Elise then sprinted over. “Ms. Hux! You’re alive. Captain Phasma had told us that you were going to be sacrificed and killed at the throne of the Sith.” A small beat. “Even my indendication programming couldn’t sense your presence. General Hux was deeply sympathetic to the point of crying—”

“I was _not_ crying.” Armitage instantly bickered, quick to the draw. “I was merely just expressing what it would’ve meant to the First Order if we had lost Nova.” 

Elise studied him for a moment as he let the girl step away from his grasp. “You were miserable, your limbic system lit up like a firework display.” 

Nova blushed, staring up at Hux who was embarrassed and averted his gaze. He wanted to remain strong and still be seen as a figure of high priority, but Nova knew that she was the only person he ever really grew fond of to the point of caring about. 

Leia appeared before them, greeting Elsie before giving her undivided attention to Hux. Poe was right next to her, his eyes narrowing on the pasty fellow. Finn, Rey, Anya, and others fanned out behind her.

Hux stood tall, proudly at a parade stance. Nova made sure she stayed at his side as Leia spoke. “General Armitage Hux,” 

“Leia Organa Solo Skywalker,” Armitage stated. 

“You can be on janitor duty.” She said simply and without another word, she excused herself to speak with Lando. 

Poe then stared him up and down. “I’m keeping my eyes on you, _Hugs_.”

Anya was next but she didn’t say anything, just looked him over and did a small scuff. 

Finn stepped up, offering the man his hand and Hux reluctantly took his hand, still wearing his leather gloves. The boy smiled. “I knew you’d join us eventually.” 

“Certainly wasn’t my first choice, _Finn_.” He says his name in a tone to besmirch him but it had the opposite effect. 

Rey beamed, her hair blowing in the warm wind as Porg landed on her shoulder and squawked. “I’d be honored to show you around the base and where you’ll be sleeping. I’ve got a good feeling about your bunk mate.” 

Off to the side she stepped, Chewbacca being revealed in place and Hux stared up at the hairy Wookie, his throat bobbing vividly. The humanoid creature got closer and closer to him, and with a small grin, Chewbacca growled in his face. Bits of slobber and hot, mildew breath covered Hux’s face and he was thrown into a coughing fit. 

Ben was nearby and he grinned despite his still aching body. With a limping step, he leaned in towards Nova and wrapped his arm around her middle, he tenderly kissed the top of her head. 

Nova looked up at him. “You need to heal.” 

“Yeah, but not yet,” he nodded and inhaled sharply, his ribs constricting his lungs but he allowed it to hurt. It made him feel alive and he would bask in the agony for a moment more to see the Resistance wearing smiles and laughing to their hearts’ content. 

From the corner of his eye, Ben watches as Nova glanced between Rey and Hux. She had this new glow to her and made her look so alive, her dimples seemed much more relaxed and at ease. He could barely believe that this was the same girl that he found all those years ago, and yet, it comforted him. That Nova was tortured, confined to something that she believed she had no choice in but now, she was free and she was able to go wherever now without repercussions. Just like him. 

Nova and Ben were a Dyad. He was raised by both parents in a loving home, she by herself in many different places. Both had a gift they couldn’t explain. The Force brought them together and despite a consuming darkness, the girl returned the boy to the light. Ben was a Skywalker, and Nova was a Palpatine by blood. 

When Nova first met him, she believed that she was a nobody. But from Ben who had embraced her and those closest around her that helped shape her, she realized that there’s more complexity to a person than something that’s just as standard as good and evil. The once red bladed lightsaber that was purified and blossomed yellow honored that very belief. 

As night began to fall upon Ajan Kloss, an impassive Armitage were giving every location and coordinates to the Resistance pilots and Leia of First Order posts. Elsie was there, assisting but mostly making conversation with C-3PO while Poe kept on cracking jokes towards Hux with Anya right at his side. 

Ben was resting on a medbed, his ankle wrapped up and torso bandaged as Finn was using the Force to heal him up while Rey fetched blankets and a pillow. Nova was fixing up BD-1, making sure that Avellian didn’t damage him too much and the little droid beeped as a Porg stumbled up beside him and perched. The little fluffy female bird with brown patches around their eyes cooed and rested her head against his foot. Nova chuckled to herself at the sight, fixing his sensor eye and watched as it began projecting a message like before. 

It was of Cal but this time, he was dressed in a dark blue poncho that looked similar to the one that she remembered her mother wearing on that day on Jakku. “Nova, if you’re seeing this, you’ve done it. I knew you would.” He nods with a smile. “There’s so many things you must’ve figured out by now, especially this one but I have to say it so you can actually hear it from me.” 

Nova brought her knees up to her chest, holding them and watched. She wasn’t the only one; Ben, Finn, and Rey, who came back with the blankets, were all watching too. 

“Your mother is my daughter. You’re my granddaughter. You’re a Kestis.” Cal informed her with such care in his tone of voice. “When I opened that holocron filled with the new generation of Jedi, I saw a bunch of names: Luke Skywalker, Leia Skywalker, and as I kept on looking, I saw your sister’s name. Rey.” 

Nova’s interest peaked and she raised her chin that had settled on top of her knees, listening carefully. 

“Then I saw yours. Nova Palpatine.” He stated. “As I was looking, then I swore that I could see you. Muddy and rippled, yet shaped and solid like looking at your reflection in water. You seemed so sad, hurt, and unsure. But I just had this feeling that you’d do amazing things, and you have. It’s been a privilege to be your grandfather, Nova.” 

He steps up close to her, crouching down as if he was going to turn off BD-1’s projection and nods. Nova nods back, knowing that he wouldn’t see but nonetheless, still did. 

“Wondering what happens next? I think we all are.” Cal laughed, his eyes shining like glass. “Whatever it may be, it’ll be alright because we have the Force. It surrounds us and binds all living things. It has a dark side, and it has a light, and the tension between them maintains a balance. For a time the balance was upset and all seemed lost, but those who dared walk the skies to face the darkness, they found a light.” 

His eyes then lingered to everyone in the room as if he knew they would all be there when the message finally broadcasted itself. Cal then focuses back on Nova, a kind smile on his lips.

“The Force will be with you, always.” 


End file.
